Castile-La Mancha

The C-141 departed Athens for a night-time flight to Madrid, the first leg of a flight back to McGuire AFB. The crew were cleared for an ILS approach to Torrejon's runway 23. Weather was reported as 20,000 foot overcast, with 10 NM visibility. During the descent the crew forgot to use the Descent Checklist. Thus, the crew had failed to set their altimeters from 29.92" to the local altimeter setting of 30.17". Additionally, they did not turn on the radar altimeter. While at FL60 the crew was given a clearance to a lower altitude. Because of heavy radio traffic, the clearance was garbled. They were not sure if the controller had cleared them down to 5000 or 3000 feet. They agreed that it must have been 3000 feet. They read back "three thousand feet", but the controller failed to notice the error. When reporting "passing 5000 for 3000" to another controller, the error again was not noticed. Nearing 3000 feet, the navigator noticed a hill ahead and above their altitude, but the pilot reassured him that "everything looks clear ahead", with the lights of the air base visible in the valley below. At an altitude of 3050 feet, at a speed of 250 kts, the airplane impacted terrain near the edge of a plateau, 40 km east of the Torrejón Air Force Base. It became airborne again, rolled over and disintegrated in a field. The navigator survived while 24 other occupants were killed.
Crew:
Cpt Clinton Clifford Corbin, pilot, †
Cpt Thomas R. Dietz, pilot, †
1st Lt William A. Kuhn, copilot, †
T/Sgt Edward Peter Babcock, flight engineer, †
T/Sgt Donald R. Wells, flight engineer, †
Maj Friedrich Hugo Lamers, navigator, †
1st Lt William Haskel Ray, navigator
T/Sgt Sidney Nathaniel Hillsman, load master. †
Passengers:
Cpl Edward Anthony Fanelli,
Lt Col Austin Frederick Balkman
Teresa Ann Wilcox
T2c Donald Lee Rhodes
Charles 'Chuck' Edward Hyatt
William Moore O'Connor
Cpl Sandra Rae Canton
Sgt Barry Gale Canton
Georgia Lord
Charles Edward Lord
Monteal Massey
Frank Bullard Massey
Janice Lynn Barron
Clifford Elbert Barron
Michael L. Merricks
Robert L. Holloway
Lt Chris Louis Katsetos.

The crew was returning to Madrid-Torrejón AFB following a refuelling mission over the Mediterranean Sea. While descending to Torrejón Airbase, the crew reported his altitude at 17,000 feet on descent when the airplane disappeared from radar screens. The main wreckage and all debris were found in Centenera, about 35 km northeast of the Torrejón Airbase. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all six crew members were killed.

En route from Málaga to Madrid, the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt de la Montija located near San Lorenzo de Calatrava. All five crew members were killed.

En route from Málaga to Getafe Airbase in Madrid, the airplane crashed in unknown circumtances 35 km southeast of Ciudad Real. All eight crew members were killed.

The aircraft departed Barcelona-El Prat Airport at 1518LT bound for Barajas in Madrid. Due to poor weather conditions over the Calamocha area, ATC instructed the crew to modify his route. At 1656LT, a last radio contact was made with the crew and four minutes later, while cruising in low visibility, the airplane struck trees and crashed on the east slope of Mt Cerro del Télégrafo (1,900 meters high) located in the Sierra de Valdemeca, about 150 km east of Madrid. Thew wreckage was found 60 meters below the summit and all 28 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the airplane was about 600 meters below the prescribed altitude.

Struck a mountain near Buendía while enroute from Teruel to Madrid. All six occupants were killed, among them one civilian.

On approach to Albacete-Los Llanos Airbase, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed onto a farm located eight km from the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and all three crew members were killed.

The aircraft departed Seville-Tablada Airport on a flight to Valencia, carrying four passengers and four crew members. En route, the pilots encountered poor weather conditions with snow falls and icing conditions. They decided to divert to Albacete-Los Llanos AFB for an emergency landing, but on final approach, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in an open field located near Santa Ana, less than 10 km southwest from the airbase. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight occupants were killed.

Crashed on takeoff at Los Llanos AFB in Albacete. Two crew members were killed while two others were injured.

The three engine airplane left Jerez de la Frontera Airbase at 1235LT bound for Madrid-Torrejoin. En route, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located south of San Pablo de los Montes. All four crew members were killed.