What happened
During a local night training operation at Atlantic City Airport, the crew was performing maneuvers when the aircraft experienced a sudden loss of altitude. While on final approach, the pilot-in-command initiated a go-around procedure. During this transition, the aircraft descended and impacted the ground in flames before reaching the runway threshold.
The accident resulted in four serious injuries among the crew members. The impact and subsequent fire led to the total destruction of the aircraft. Investigations into the engine settings at the time of the incident revealed an asymmetrical power distribution: the number 1 and number 2 left engines were operating at full power, whereas the number 3 and number 4 right engines were at idle.
Findings
Official investigations concluded that the aircraft entered a stall during the short final phase of flight. This aerodynamic stall occurred because the crew attempted to execute the go-around maneuver while maintaining an insufficient airspeed for the climb.