Accident
A Kentucky National Guard training flight conducting touch-and-go maneuvers at Evansville-William H. Dress Airport crashed into a hotel and restaurant. The aircraft was on approach to runway 22 when air traffic control instructed the crew to initiate a go-around for unknown reasons. The crew increased engine power and climbed to an altitude of 1,500 feet. At that point, the aircraft entered a nose-down attitude, plunged, and crashed into a hotel located 4,800 feet short of the runway 22 threshold.
Destruction and Casualties
The aircraft, the hotel, and a restaurant were destroyed. All five crew members on board the aircraft were killed, as were 11 people in the hotel and restaurant. A police officer who was seriously injured in the accident died from his injuries 10 days later.
Probable Cause
The official investigation stated that the loss of control was the consequence of negligences on the part of the crew who maintained an insufficient speed while initiating a go-around procedure, causing the aircraft to suffer an aerodynamic stall.