What happened
A C-141 was conducting a flight from Thule Air Base in Greenland to Sonderstromfjord Air Base, with the final destination being McGuire AFB. The aircraft was carrying sufficient fuel for the entire journey. During the arrival at Sonderstromfjord, the crew performed a PAR approach and touched down on runway 11. The landing was noted as being slightly long on the 9,235-foot runway.
Following the touchdown, the aircraft traveled approximately 1,500 to 2,000 feet without the deployment of spoilers or thrust reversers. At this point, the crew initiated a go-around maneuver. During the transition, the plane experienced an abrupt rotation, reaching a pitch angle of up to 45 degrees, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
As the aircraft stalled, the left wing made contact with the ground and ignited. Despite the damage and missing portions of the left wing, the plane briefly regained altitude and traveled about 650 feet before the right wing struck the terrain, causing a fire. The aircraft bounced once more and ultimately broke apart roughly 500 feet from the runway centerline. There were no survivors reported in this accident.
Findings
The investigation identified that the flight crew lacked significant experience, specifically noting that the captain had fewer than 100 hours in command. A primary contributing factor was likely an optical illusion caused by the runway's topography. The initial 3,000 feet of runway 11 features a 1.51% upslope, rising 59 feet from the threshold. This elevation change can cause the final two-thirds of the runway to appear much shorter than it actually is, potentially influencing the crew's decision-making during the landing phase.