Lockheed safety

Noncompliance With Departure Procedures Sets Course for Impact With Mountain

Investigators said that the controlled-flight-into-terrain accident resulted from the flight crew’s failure to properly plan for a night departure from an unfamiliar airport. The crew of the U.S. Air Force C-130H did not follow published instrument departure procedures.

The accident occurred during an automatic landing when the rear of the aircraft struck the ground on landing. The recorded airspeed on touchdown was 120 kt, while the calculated Vref was 145 kt. During the final stages of approach, the Auto Throttle System was inoperative but the crew did not detect the consequent diverging parameters of aircraft attitude and airspeed.