What happened
A flight operated by VP-17 departed from Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, destined for Barbers Point Naval Air Station in Hawaii with a scheduled stop at North Island-Halsey Field Naval Air Station in San Diego. Shortly after the departure, the Lockheed P-3 Orion encountered an area of intense thunderstorms characterized by heavy turbulence.
During this period of severe weather, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled dive. The structural integrity of the plane failed while in flight, causing the aircraft to partially break apart before impacting a desert region approximately 10 miles northwest of Searchlight, Nevada. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the airframe, with debris fields spanning over half a mile. There were ten fatalities among the crew members on board.
Findings
Investigations into the accident produced differing conclusions regarding the primary trigger for the structural failure. While the Navy's official findings suggested that the aircraft had been struck by lightning, Lockheed investigators reached a different conclusion. Lockheed determined that the mid-air disintegration was the result of structural overloading of the right wing caused by a positive high angle of attack condition. This assessment indicated that the stresses from uncontrollable flight maneuvers led to the eventual breakup of the aircraft.