What happened
At approximately 0531LT, a cargo flight departing from runway 31L of Midway Airport for Los Angeles initiated its takeoff. During the initial left turn following departure, the crew identified a fire warning associated with the No. 2 engine and subsequently shut the engine down. The flight crew alerted the Midway Tower of the malfunction and indicated their intention to perform a return to the airport for landing.
The aircraft executed an elliptical pattern around the airfield, remaining below a cloud base situated between 500 and 600 feet. As the plane transitioned into a turn toward the final approach for runway 31, it entered a bank greater than 45 degrees. During this maneuver, the aircraft type/model experienced an excessive rate of descent.
By the time the aircraft reached the tree line, the nose was in a climbing attitude and the wings were nearly level, yet the downward descent persisted. Investigation showed that wing flaps were being retracted during the final 5 to 10 seconds of the flight, and they were found at 24 percent extension at the moment of impact. The aircraft crashed into a residential neighborhood located roughly one-fourth of a mile southeast of Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois. The accident resulted in all persons aboard being killed, along with eight fatalities on the ground.
Findings
The investigation concluded that the primary factor was the maneuvering of the aircraft in a manner that caused it to develop an excessive rate of sink while performing the turn toward the final approach.