Editing Short C-23 Sherpa (section)

=== U.S. Army National Guard ===
[[File:C-23 at Anaktuvuk Pass.jpg|thumb|Alaska National Guard C-23 on an unimproved frozen runway in the Alaskan village of [[Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska|Anaktuvuk Pass]] to deliver medical supplies. (2011)]]

While the US Army does not operate many fixed wing aircraft besides the Sherpa (due to [[Key West Agreement]]), they lost a C-23B in 2001 in Georgia, USA, and 21 died.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CNN.com - Military units involved in the C-23 Sherpa crash - March 3, 2001 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/03/03/florida.guard.facts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240325013222/http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/03/03/florida.guard.facts/ |archive-date=2024-03-25 |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=www.cnn.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ASN Aircraft accident Shorts C-23B+ Sherpa (360) 93-1336 Unadilla, GA |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20010303-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240325013511/https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20010303-0 |archive-date=2024-03-25 |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Aviation Safety Network}}</ref> This was the worst peacetime aviation disaster of the [[U.S. National Guard]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Nash |first=Deborah |title=Hödicke, K(arl) H(orst) |date=2003 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t038416 |work=Oxford Art Online |access-date=2023-10-29 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

On 3 March 2001, a C-23B Sherpa belonging to the 171st Aviation Regiment of the [[Florida Army National Guard]] was carrying 18 construction workers of the [[Virginia Air National Guard]] from [[Hurlburt Field]], Florida to [[Naval Air Station Oceana]], Virginia. The pilot left the flight deck to use the aft bathroom. His weight in the tailcone shifted the [[center of gravity]] sufficiently that the airplane became unstable when a patch of severe turbulence was encountered. The violent g-force shifts then encountered rendered the crew unconscious and caused the breakup of the aircraft in flight near Unadilla, Georgia, killing the 21 persons on board.<ref>{{cite news |last=Veillette [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D]]. |first=Patrick |date=May 26, 2016 |title=Weighty Matters: Miscalculation when loading can have unwelcome consequences |work=[[Aviation Week]] Network |url=http://aviationweek.com/bca/weighty-matters?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20160623_AW-05_244&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&elq2=91a0cf3664184a7c8be3cad1218369fb |url-status=live |access-date=July 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013020839/http://aviationweek.com/bca/weighty-matters?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20160623_AW-05_244&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&elq2=91a0cf3664184a7c8be3cad1218369fb |archive-date=13 October 2017}}</ref> Later calculations determined that the aircraft had been loaded outside its operating envelope at the start of the flight.

The C-23 was retired from Army National Guard service in 2014, having served with distinction in such missions as disaster relief and transport, earning the distinction of being a "workhorse" aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web |title=C-23 Sherpa makes final flight as Army Guard retires the venerable aircraft |url=https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article/575469/c-23-sherpa-makes-final-flight-as-army-guard-retires-the-venerable-aircraft/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalguard.mil%2FNews%2FArticle-View%2FArticle%2F575469%2Fc-23-sherpa-makes-final-flight-as-army-guard-retires-the-venerable-aircraft%2F |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=National Guard |language=en-US}}</ref>