Tinker AFB

Following a Red Flag exercice from Tinker AFB, the aircraft was returning to Nellis AFB. Upon landing, the nose gear collapsed and the aircraft slid on the runway for few dozen metres before coming to rest, bursting into flames. All 32 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The DC-9 arrived at Carswell AFB at 01:12 CST after a flight from Kelly AFB. The aircraft was off-loaded and re-loaded with cargo by USAF personnel. The engines were then started at 02:04. The crew received taxi instructions for runway 17 and took off from this runway at 02:09. At (or immediately after) rotation, the main cargo door opened. An emergency was declared and the crew climbed to 2500 feet msl before entering a right turn. When about 5nm north of the airport the captain began a shallow turn to the right (for base leg). The aircraft crossed the extended centreline and the captain tightened the turn to establish their position relative to the runway threshold. In doing so, the air load on the door probably caused it to rapidly move to its full open over the top position. A sudden opening of the door would also have produced an unexpected change in the yawing and rolling moments. The captain, possibly partially disoriented, may not have sensed the increasing roll and nose tuck and thus failed to correct a changing attitude until a critical bank angle and loss of altitude had occurred. The DC-9 struck the ground in an inverted, nose down, left wing low attitude and disintegrated. It appeared that the first officer, when closing the main cargo door, didn't hold the door control valve 'T' handle in the closed position long enough for the latching hooks to move into place over the door sill spools. External latched and locked indicators were applied incorrectly, so the first officer thought the door was latched properly when the handle was pointed more toward the 'locked' than the 'unlocked' chevron. It also appeared that one of the two open door warning light switches was malfunctioning. Because of their wiring, this malfunction made the entire door warning system ineffective.

While approaching Tinker AFB by night, the crew encountered low visibility due to foggy conditions and initiated a go-around maneuver. The crew attempted four other approaches that were abandoned due to poor visibility. During the fifth approach, the crew declared an emergency due to low fuel then the airplane stalled and crashed. A pilot was killed while the second occupant was seriously injured.

On final approach to Robins AFB, the four engine aircraft went out of control and crashed in flames short of runway 32 threshold. One occupant survived while five others were killed.

The crew was involved in a liaison flight out from Donaldson AFB, Greenville, South Carolina. En route, a fuel leak forced the crew to divert to Tinker AFB for a safe landing. On final approach, the airplane went out of control and crashed few miles short of runway threshold. A crew member was killed while seven others were seriously injured.

En route from Kelly AFB to Tinker AFB, while cruising at an altitude of 6,000 feet in poor weather conditions, the four engine aircraft collided with a USAF Fairchild C-119C-17-FA Flying Boxcar. Registered 49-0195, the Flying Boxcar was en route from Sheppard AFB to Carswell AFB with a crew of three on board. Following the collision, both aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a field located near Bridgeport. All 18 occupants on both aircraft were killed.

While cruising in heavy rain falls, the aircraft encountered turbulences and went into a dive. Three crew members were able to bail out before the aircraft crashed in a field located 15 miles southwest of Jackson, Tennessee. While the three occupants who bailed out were unarmed, four other crew members were killed.

Crashed on takeoff. Crew fate unknown.

The crew was performing a flight from Cherry Point AFB (North Carolina) to Moffett AFB, California, with an intermediate stop in Tinker AFB near Oklahoma City. During the final approach, the left engine failed. The aircraft stalled and crashed in flames in a field. All six occupants were injured while the aircraft was partially destroyed by fire.