What happened
During an early afternoon training mission departing from Charleston, a military aircraft carrying nine crew members encountered deteriorating weather conditions. As the flight progressed, the area experienced heavy rain and fog, which reduced visibility to zero below an altitude of 4,500 feet. The cloud ceiling was reported at 8,000 feet with an overcast layer at 4,500 feet.
While navigating through these conditions, the aircraft impacted the terrain on the slope of Mt Johns Knob, a peak reaching 4,908 feet located along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. Search efforts located the wreckage approximately 118 feet below the summit. The accident resulted in nine fatalities, with no survivors among the crew.
Findings
Investigations into the crash identified that at the time of the impact, the prevailing visibility was below the minimum requirements established for conducting military training missions.