Man arrested on multiple charges in fatal 2017 crash of 'Yanky 72' military plane in Delta

A former Warner Robbins employee has been arrested on charges of making false statements and obstructing justice during a federal criminal investigation into a 2017 military plane crash that killed 16 service members.

On July 10, 2017, a United States Marine Corps KC-130 transport aircraft, known as “Yanky 72,” crashed near Itta Bena, Mississippi, killing fifteen Marines and one Navy Corpsman.

Click here to view individual photos and service records of the men aboard the Yanky 72.

On Tuesday morning, James Michael Fisher, formerly of Warner Robins, Georgia and currently residing in Portugal, was arrested on an indictment issued by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Mississippi charging him with obstruction of justice and making false statements during a criminal investigation into the cause of the crash.

According to the indictment, Fisher, 67, a former chief propulsion engineer at Warner Robins Logistics Center, engaged in conduct designed to avoid scrutiny for his past engineering decisions related to why the accident was allowed to occur. Specifically, the indictment alleges that Fisher knowingly withheld key engineering documents from criminal investigators and made materially false statements to criminal investigators about his past engineering decisions.

Fisher is charged with two counts of making false statements and two counts of obstruction of justice. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Clay Joyner for the Northern District of Mississippi, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) made the announcement.

AFOSI, DCIS and NCIS are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Leary and Philip Levy are prosecuting the case.