Background
A military flight conducted on behalf of the 524th Special Operations Squadron for the United States Air Force (USAF) and U.S. Africa Command (Africom) departed Nouakchott, Mauritania. Before takeoff, two fuel trucks arrived to service the aircraft, but the captain declined the additional fuel. The captain calculated that the existing reserve was sufficient to reach the destination, Bamako, Mali.
Accident
While approaching Bamako, the right engine failed due to fuel exhaustion. Five minutes later, the left engine also failed. The crew elected to divert to Kolokani, a small airstrip located 19 kilometers from Bamako. However, the crew was ultimately forced to make an emergency landing off airport. During the landing, the aircraft lost its undercarriage and the right wing was sheared off. The aircraft was destroyed, but all nine occupants were uninjured.
Probable Cause
The Accident Investigation Board (AIB) President found by clear and convincing evidence that the cause of this mishap was the aircraft running out of fuel due to the mishap aircraft commander’s and mishap copilot’s failure to properly fuel plan and then refuel the aircraft at Nouakchott with a sufficient amount to reach their destination. Once airborne, despite indications of a fuel shortage, the mishap crew did not divert to a suitable alternate airport early enough in the sortie to avoid this mishap. The AIB President also found sufficient evidence to conclude the following factors substantially contributed to the mishap: insufficient mission and flight planning; faulty decision-making; complacency; task misprioritization; channelized attention; and the mishap crew pressing to meet mission demands.