Despite an early belief that the advantages of the turbojet over preceding propeller-driven cargo aircraft would render the latter obsolete, service experiences with the C-141 found that there was still a useful role for turboprop-driven utility transports such as the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Capabilities such as short-field takeoff performance and suitability for austere airstrips meant that such aircraft proved useful, while the C-141 proved to be anything but robust, suffering numerous instances of structural failures. Specifically, the C-141 fleet was troubled by seemingly random cracking through the wing area, which was, according to a report compiled by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), sometimes attributable to stresses imposed under certain types of missions undertaken. A planned remedial programme during the 1980s to repair wing boxes uncovered significant corrosion and cracking, necessitating the full replacement of the wing boxes across the fleet instead of making repairs.