Historic plane heading to Castle Air Museum

ATWATER, Calif. (FOX26) — A plane that carried American POW's held by the Viet Cong is now getting a new home in the Central Valley.

The 52-year-old airplane is headed to the Castle Air Museum in Atwater.

The Lockheed MC-130 P Hercules search and rescue aircraft played a significant role in the liberation of the Son Tay POW camp in North Vietnam on November 20, 1970.

The plane has been assigned to the California Air National Guard 129th Air Rescue Wing based at Moffett Federal Airfield near Sunnyvale, Calif. since 2012.

The aircraft was employed on many air and sea rescue missions during the past six years as far away as Alaska and the Galapagos Islands.

The plane is currently parked at the Castle Airport in Atwater and will be moved to its permanent home at the museum sometime in January.