What happened
During the early hours of 2 October 2015, an aircraft performing a scheduled contingency airlift mission crashed shortly after departing runway 31 at Jalalabad Airfield. The flight was part of operations assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing based at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. The crew, operating under the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, included a pilot, a copilot, and two loadmasters. Also present on the aircraft were two security team members and five passengers working as contractors.
As the aircraft ascended, it struck a guard tower that was being occupied by three members of the Afghan Special Reaction Force. The collision caused the total destruction of the aircraft and its cargo, while also damaging a perimeter wall. The impact resulted in 14 fatalities in total: all eleven people aboard the plane died instantly, along with the three personnel stationed in the tower.
Findings
An investigation into the accident determined that the pilot had placed a hard-shell night vision goggle case in a position that obstructed the forward movement of the flight controls. This physical obstruction was compounded by several operational issues, including distractions affecting both the pilot and copilot during the engine running operations. Additionally, the crew misidentified a mechanical malfunction once the aircraft was airborne. The investigation concluded that environmental conditions and pilot fixation were significant contributing factors to the crash.