Incident Overview
An aircraft conducting a flight from RAF Lakenheath to McGuire Air Force Base, with an intermediate stop at Lajes in the Azores Islands, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean approximately 590 kilometers southwest of Land's End, Cornwall, United Kingdom. All 59 occupants on board were killed. The crew did not transmit any distress call prior to the crash.
Sequence of Events
The flight departed from RAF Lakenheath and proceeded normally. At 2055 local time, while cruising at an altitude of 15,000 feet, the crew contacted air traffic control to report their position and confirm that everything was normal. The last known communication with the aircraft occurred at that time. More than an hour later, at 2210 local time, the aircraft went out of control and crashed into the ocean. No further radio transmissions were received from the crew.
Aftermath and Debris Recovery
Following the loss of contact, search and recovery efforts located debris on the ocean surface, including life vests and the aircraft's nose wheel. Some of the recovered debris showed traces of fire, but the source of the fire and its relation to the accident were not determined. The investigation left several assumptions open based on the fire evidence, but no definitive conclusions were reached regarding the cause of the crash.