The four engine airplane departed Kenneth Ingalls Sawyer AFB in the early morning on a flight to Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport. En route, the partially disintegrated in the air, entered a dive and crashed in a wooded area located 12,5 miles southwest of Alpena. 15 occupants were killed while five others were rescued.
Probable cause (official findings): The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty but the assumption that the aircraft partially disintegrated in the air following a possible cabin pressurization problem was not ruled out.