The massive military transport plane is a rare sight locally and its crew stayed overnight. They were still at the airport early Thursday morning.
"They elected to stay here because they couldn't get into McGuire because of the fog," airport spokesman Doug Myers said.
An Air Force official at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Wrightstown, N.J., confirmed the base was fogged in Thursday night, but could not provide any other details.
Myers noted C-17s have landed at the airport with the security detail accompanying President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One that landed at the airport three times during Obama's visits to the Capital Region in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
Obama spoke at an event at the Tappan Zee Bridge on Wednesday and a dedication ceremony of the new 9/11 museum at the World Trade Center Thursday. It did not appear that the C-17 that landed in Albany overnight was connected to Obama's visit downstate, Myers said.
The C-17 is 174 feet long, with a 170-foot wingspan and a weight of about 282,000 pounds. The $220 million aircraft is made by Boeing and dwarfs the big C-130 transport planes commonly seen in the skies of the Capital Region.
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Fog caused this Air Force C-17 military transport plane to be diverted from McGuire AFB in New Jersey and to land instead Wednesday night at the Albany International Airport and to stay overnight. It was still there Thursday morning.
