C-9A Nightingale

C-9A Nightingale. A modified McDonnell Douglas DC-9, the C-9A was the only aircraft in the US Air Force inventory at the time specifically dedicated to the movement of litter and ambulatory patients. The name "nightingale" was selected by the chief nurse of the 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing, Lieutenant Colonel Mary Ann Tonne, in honor of Florence Nightingale, the British nurse who pioneered military nursing during the Crimean War. At the initial rollout ceremony on June 17, 1968, in Long Beach, California, the first C-9A (67-22584) was christened with water from the Sea of Galilee by Mrs. Elsie Ott Madot, who in 1943, had been the first Army Air Force nurse to fly on an intercontinental aeromedical evacuation mission. The Nightingale was specially fitted with an assortment of medical equipment: a hydraulically operated folding ramp, patient monitoring devices, plus special oxygen, vacuum, and electrical systems. The C-9A nearly doubled the speed and range of the propeller driven C-131A Samaritan aircraft it replaced. Scott AFB became the hub for C-9A operations, maintenance, and training. The 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing held continental U.S. aeromedical responsibilities from 1966, and gained worldwide aeromedical responsibilities in 1975 - a mission it continued to support until Air Force-wide reorganizations in 1990. The 375th Airlift Wing continued flying medical missions, with its C-9's until August 11, 2003, the day Scott's last C-9A Nightingale aeromedical flight departed. The C-9A aircraft on display spent most of its flying career in the Pacific Theater, though it did fly for the 375th from 1980-1993. Today, this display honors all those who flew and supported the C-9A Nightingale, the "Cadillac of Airevac" during its 35 year history., This aircraft is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force.