What happened
The incident occurred while the aircraft was conducting a training sortie at Fort Benning AFB. At the time of the accident, there were 26 paratroopers aboard the machine. After completing several passes over the designated drop zone, eleven crew members exited the aircraft via parachute.
Following these exits, fifteen paratroopers remained inside the cabin and moved to the rear section of the fuselage. This movement significantly shifted the center of gravity aft. Consequently, the aircraft experienced an insufficient airspeed condition that led to a stall. Once the stall occurred, the pilot lost control of the machine. The aircraft entered a dive and impacted the ground, resulting in a massive explosion.
The crash was fatal for everyone on board. A total of 20 occupants perished in the accident. The crew consisted of five military personnel, while the remaining fifteen were paratroopers who had not yet exited the aircraft.
Findings
Investigations indicated that the primary factor leading to the loss of control was a stall caused by low airspeed. It is believed that this low speed was inadvertently adopted by the flight crew during the dropping exercise. The aft shift in the center of gravity, resulting from the remaining paratroopers moving to the rear of the cabin, likely exacerbated the aerodynamic instability that led to the fatal crash.