What happened
During a scheduled training mission departing from Fort Bragg-Simmons AAF, an aircraft carrying personnel from the USA Army Parachute Team Golden Knights crashed. The flight was transporting two pilots, a crew chief, and 11 members of the parachute team. Approximately one hour into the flight, while the aircraft was navigating through adverse weather conditions, it became uncontrollable and struck an open field.
All 14 fatalities occurred during the impact, with no survivors among the occupants.
Findings
Investigations into the crash revealed that the aircraft was overloaded at the time of the accident. It was discovered that a heavy metal plating had been installed on the floor of the plane during service in Vietnam. This modification had not been documented in the official aircraft log books, leading to an inaccurate assessment of the plane's weight and balance.