What happened
On May 18, 1965, an AAXICO Airlines, Inc. cargo flight, operating as Flight No. 1416B, crashed while approaching Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, Missouri. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-6A with registration N6579C, was performing a scheduled Civil Air Movement mission. The flight had departed from Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City under instrument flight rules but transitioned to visual flight rules shortly after takeoff.
As the crew attempted a straight-in visual approach to runway 36 from the south, they encountered severe weather conditions. A line of thunderstorms was positioned to the west of the airfield, with cells moving across the approach end of the runway. This weather obstructed the crew's view of the base and the landing strip. While continuing the approach, the aircraft entered heavy rain that caused a total loss of visual ground contact.
The aircraft struck trees 4,204 feet before reaching the runway threshold, positioned 740 feet to the right of the runway centerline. The impact sheared off the landing gear, the No. 4 engine, and the right outer wing panel. After hitting the ground, the plane slid roughly 1,200 feet on its fuselage. The impact ruptured fuel tanks in the right wing, causing a brief ground fire, while ruptures in the left inboard tanks ignited a fire that consumed the interior of the aircraft. All three crew members on board survived the accident without injury.
Findings
The investigation concluded that the crash was caused by an improperly executed landing approach into adverse weather, which resulted in the aircraft descending to an altitude insufficient to clear the trees in its path.