What happened
During a return flight to Amarillo Airport following a mission involving four hours of refueling operations, an aircraft experienced a critical loss of control. While performing the final approach phase of the flight, the aircraft began exhibiting unstable behavior, characterized by rhythmic banking to the left and right.
As the instability progressed, the plane entered a stall condition. The subsequent impact occurred just a short distance before reaching the runway threshold, where the aircraft caught fire upon hitting the ground. The crash resulted in five fatalities among the crew members on board. The impact was severe enough to cause the total destruction of the airframe.
Findings
Official investigations into the accident focused on the flight dynamics immediately preceding the impact. The primary factor identified was that the aircraft was performing an unstable and oscillating approach for reasons that remained undetermined at the time of the report.