Incident Overview
On a training flight from Fort Benning-Lawson AFB in Columbus, Georgia, to Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama, the crew departed at 1334 local time. The scheduled training program consisted of approaches, touch-and-goes, and landings. After takeoff, the captain modified the plan and flew northwest to Huntingdon, Tennessee, over 300 miles from Fort Benning. Approaching Huntingdon, the captain reduced altitude and performed a first low pass over the city. Minutes later, at a speed of 230 knots, a second low pass was made. During this pass, the aircraft struck the roof of a house and disintegrated on a field.
Crew and Casualties
The four crew members were killed: 1st Lt Jack C. Jenkins (pilot), 2nd Lt John C. Peachey (copilot), A2c Franklin D. Levy (flight engineer), and A2c David A. Probus (flight engineer). No one on the ground was injured.
Probable Cause
The official findings state: "The aircraft disintegrated as a result of stress applied beyond the designed load limits. Inspection of the engines disclosed no malfunction of the power recovery turbines. The pilot violated several procedures by operating an aircraft in a careless and reckless manner, by flying over a congested area at less than 2,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a radius of 2,000 feet, by disregarding established boundaries of the local flying area and proceeding to a point approximately 170 nautical miles outside of the prescribed flying area while operating on a local flight clearance. In addition, the pilot failed to follow instructions for accomplishing scheduled crew training published by squadron training directive and as briefed by the Squadron Operations Officer. The pilot had made two extremely low and high speed passes over the town of Huntingdon."