What happened
A flight traveling from Travis AFB to Clark AFB, with a scheduled stop at Hickam Field, was conducting its arrival at Clark AFB on runway 02. The aircraft was transporting US military personnel and their families when it encountered adverse weather, including rain, low cloud cover, and visibility reduced to one mile. During the descent, the flight crew descended below the glide slope, prompting air traffic control to issue three separate warnings.
As the aircraft reached three kilometers from the runway threshold, controllers ordered a go-around. However, because the pilot could see the runway, the pilot-in-command chose to proceed with the landing attempt. The pilot switched frequencies to contact the tower and received clearance to land. Approximately 1,050 meters before reaching the runway threshold, the nose gear collided with a fence, and the left wing struck a TACAN antenna. This impact caused the aircraft type to stall and strike the ground. The plane slid across a road, striking a taxi, before catching fire approximately 600 meters short of the runway. The accident resulted in 84 fatalities, including all 74 passengers, five crew members, and the taxi driver, along with several injuries to the crew and passengers in the taxi.
Findings
The investigation determined that the primary cause was an improper approach configuration by the flying crew, specifically their decision to continue the landing despite receiving a direct order from ATC to abandon the approach. Contributing factors included degraded weather conditions and a breakdown in coordination between the approach controller, who ordered the go-around, and the tower controller, who cleared the aircraft for landing.