What happened
During a night training mission operating between Davis Monthan and Mobile, a four-engine aircraft encountered terrain while flying at low visibility. The flight was conducting a return leg when it struck the slope of a mountain located south of Guadalupe Peak, southeast of Pine Springs in west Texas.
The impact forces destroyed the airframe, which subsequently caught fire. All 12 crew members on board were killed in the accident. The incident occurred during a routine training sortie rather than a combat or transport mission.
Findings
Investigators determined that no technical failure contributed to the crash. The primary issue was that the aircraft was cruising at an insufficient altitude, estimated between 5,000 and 5,400 feet, for night operations in that specific region.
The crew was not sufficiently familiar with the local topography, making such low-altitude night flight hazardous. Additionally, the preflight briefing provided to the crew was found to be incomplete, which likely contributed to their lack of situational awareness regarding terrain clearance.