United States Air Force - USAF (since 1947)

Crash on landing in Lajes in the following circumstances, according to the following testimony:
I was the Maintenance Job Controller on duty when the day this occurred. The incident aircraft had declared an inflight emergency (IFE) for (if I recall correctly) #3 engine shutdown. In any case it was right wing engine that was out of service. Fire trucks were standing by as this was SOP for IFEs. The aircraft came in from south to north. On landing roll the crew reversed all three operating engines instead of only the running symmetrical engines of each wing. Having twice the reverse thrust action exerted on the left wing caused the aircraft to yaw left and depart the runway. After going through the perimeter fence off to the left of the runway, it rode up some rock walls and nearly impacted two dwellings on the other side before coming to rest. The left wing caught on fire. In pictures that are available you can see where one of the propellers that departed on impact sliced a hole in the fuselage just in front of the red prop plane of rotation line on the left hand side. Fortunately, because the fire trucks were already lined up on the runway, the fire was extinguished quickly. The only injury to the aircrew was a broken finger. Some side notes. The aircraft was carrying the produce flown in weekly for the commissary on base, No big deal in the scope of things but fruits and veggies were in short supply unless you went local. Also, in one of those oddities of life that made it all the more surreal, the Line Chief had said over the maintenance radio just before it landed, “I hope he remembers to reverse only one and four when he lands.” The next words I heard from him were, “We have a 130 in the dirt!” “We have a 130 on fire!” You just can’t make that stuff up. It was almost prescient. The aircraft was eventually mated with the cockpit section of C-130 that was written off due to a hard landing in Germany. They flew that in on a C-5 with replacement wings etc. Robbins Depot Maintenance came in and bolted it all together. It eventually flew out on a onetime flight to the depot in Italy.
Thanks to Bill Hewett, maintenance controller on duty when it occurred.

Inbound from Ramstein AFB, Germany, the four engine airplane was descending to Zaragoza Airport, carrying nine passengers and nine crew members, among them a high ranking officer from the Spanish Air Force. Arriving in the Spanish Airspace, the crew was supposed to take part to a joined exercise with the Ejército del Aire (Spanish Air Force). While cruising at an altitude of 2,200 feet in marginal weather conditions with flaps down at 50° and at a speed of 250 km/h, the aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located in the Sierra de Moncayo, west of Borja. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 18 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was estimated to 6 km with a ceiling at 1,200 feet.

The crew departed Nellis AFB in Las Vegas on a training mission consisting of heavy equipment drop. While flying at low height, the pilot initiated a turn when the aircraft stalled and crashed. The wreckage was found in an uninhabited and hilly terrain located about 100 miles northwest of Nellis AFB. All six occupants were killed.

The airplane departed Robins AFB on an exercise (Red Flag mission) bound for California. En route, it deviated from the prescribed flight path several times and was assisted and reoriented by an AWACS crew. While cruising over Utah in poor visibility, the crew failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located 20 miles north of St George. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Cpt Donald W. Hiebert, pilot,
1st Lt Thomas C. Lennep Jr., copilot,
Cpt Jonathan M. Bishop, radio navigator,
1st Lt Matthew W. Cervenak, navigator,
1st Lt Bernard S. Russell, EWO,
Col Caroll D. Gunther, pilot observer,
S/Sgt Major Carter, air gunner.

While parked at Pope AFB, the crew started the engine when an explosion occurred. The aircraft caught fire and was totally destroyed, killing all six crew members.

The crew was engaged in a local training flight at Sacramento-Mather AFB, consisting in a Minimum Interval Takeoff and Landing (MITO) mission. The crew started the takeoff procedure 10 seconds after a first USAF B-52 that departed the same runway. After liftoff, during initial climb, the airplane encountered wake turbulences. The pilot-in-command decided to reduce the engine power but his reaction was excessive, causing all eight engines to flame out. Due to a loss of speed, the aircraft stalled and struck the ground. It exploded on impact and debris were found on a 400 yards distance. All nine crew members were killed.
Crew:
Maj James Henry York, pilot,
Cpt Lyle Allen Brunner, instructor,
Cpt Dennis Earl Davis, electronic warfare instructor,
M/Sgt Jere E. LeFever, gunner,
2nd Lt Scott A. Semmel, student copilot,
2nd Lt Peter M. Riley, student copilot,
2nd Lt Richard P. Robeson, student navigator,
2nd Lt Benjamin C. Berndt, student navigator,
2nd Lt Daniel N. Bader, student navigator.

Following an uneventful training mission out from Castle AFB, the crew was returning to his base. After landing, the crew started the braking procedure when a fire erupted in the nose gear section. The aircraft was stopped and all six crew members escaped with no injuries. The aircraft was destroyed by fire.

The aircraft departed Charleston in the early afternoon on a training mission, carrying a crew of nine. Weather conditions worsened en route with sky overcast at 4,500 feet, top of clouds at 8,000 feet and zero visibility below 4,500 feet due to rain falls and fog. The airplane struck the slope of Mt Johns Knob (4,908 feet high) located at the Tennessee - North Carolina border. The wreckage was found 118 feet below the summit and all nine occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was below minimums for military training mission.

The crew departed Little Rock-Jacksonville AFB for a local training mission. En route, the crew reduced his altitude from 3,000 to 2,000 feet to join four other aircraft in formation when control was lost. The airplane dove into the ground and crashed in a wooded area located near Judsonia. The aircraft was destroyed and all seven crew members were killed.

The four engine airplane was engaged in a round trip from Incirlik AFB via Sinop, Erzurum and Erzincan. On the leg from Erzurum to Erzincan, while cruising at an altitude of 20,000 feet, the airplane went out of control, dove into the ground and disintegrated in a snow covered field located in Gevenlik, about 68 km northeast of Erzincan Airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 27 occupants were killed.