What happened
During a routine local training mission conducted at Pope Air Force Base, the aircraft experienced a sudden and violent impact upon touchdown. The force of this hard landing caused the nose landing gear to fail and collapse.
Following the gear failure, the aircraft came to a complete stop on the runway. There were 11 occupants on board at the time of the incident, all of whom were able to evacuate the aircraft without sustaining any injuries.
Findings
An investigation into the incident determined that the aircraft sustained damage that rendered it a total loss. While the specific reason for the heavy landing remains undetermined, the primary factor in the structural failure was the hard landing experienced during the landing phase.