What happened
During an approach to land on runway 16 at Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas, the flight crew experienced a critical failure of the aircraft's longitudinal control system. The pilots were attempting to land the aircraft when they discovered that the elevator controls had become completely inoperative.
As a result of the crash, both the captain and the copilot, who were the only occupants on board, sustained fatalities. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft.
Findings
Post-accident investigations into the control system revealed that the aft end of the aft link assembly had become disconnected from the clevis within the elevator control horn assembly. This mechanical separation rendered the elevator controls non-functional.
Physical evidence confirmed that the bolt responsible for securing the attachment between the link assembly and the clevis was missing at the time of impact. Investigators determined that the bolt vibrated loose following the aircraft's departure from Dyess AFB. The investigation concluded that the bolt had been improperly secured, a defect that should have been identified during a No. 2 maintenance inspection conducted by Associated Airmotive, Inc. prior to the flight.