What happened
A liaison flight departed from Wheelus AFB in Tripoli during the morning hours, scheduled for a trip to Hahn near Frankfurt with a planned stop at Rome-Ciampino Airport. During the leg of the journey following the departure from Rome, the crew was notified of basic weather updates. While navigating the Alpine region, the aircraft encountered severe weather characterized by snowfall and low cloud cover.
While maintaining an altitude of 8,000 feet, the aircraft type struck a mountain slope in the vicinity of Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, situated approximately 65 km north of Nice. The force of the impact caused the plane to disintegrate. There were 20 fatalities among the occupants of the aircraft.
Findings
Investigations into the accident revealed that the aircraft had drifted several kilometers away from its intended flight path. This deviation was driven by strong wind gusts reaching 80 knots. Because of the limited visibility resulting from the snow and clouds, the crew did not identify that they had moved off course. Consequently, they were unable to detect the approaching terrain and did not implement corrective maneuvers before the collision occurred.