Night Departure from Jackson Hole Ends in Fatal Terrain Impact (74-1662)

Incident Overview and Flight Details The aircraft departed Jackson Hole Airport at 2245LT on a night flight to New York-JFK. The flight carried eight crew members and a U.S. Secret Service agent. Its purpose was to transport a U.S. Secret Service communications vehicle to New York after President Bill Clinton spent some vacations in Jackson Hole. ## Crash Sequence Five minutes after takeoff, while climbing by night, the four-engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Sleeping Indian (Mt Sheep), which is 3,427 metres high and located about 18 km southeast of the airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact, and all nine occupants were killed. ## Official Findings The official probable cause was controlled flight into terrain after the crew's failure to properly plan for a night departure from an unfamiliar airport. The crew did not follow the published instrument departure procedures and was relatively inexperienced.