Accident Summary
On 19 February 2021 at 2240 Zulu (4:40 p.m. local time), a T-38C Talon (tail number 68-8099) crashed short of Runway 28 while conducting an instrument approach at Montgomery Regional Airport (Dannelly Field) in Montgomery, Alabama. The aircraft was assigned to the 50th Flying Training Squadron, 14th Flying Training Wing, Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.
Crew and Mission
The mishap crew consisted of a First Assignment Instructor Pilot (MIP) and a Japanese student pilot (MSP). The sortie was the first leg of an off-station student cross-country flight and was the first flight for both pilots in nine days due to a recent winter storm. The planned route included a circling instrument approach at Dannelly Field followed by a full-stop landing at Tallahassee International Airport.
Sequence of Events
During the circling approach, the MSP flew the downwind leg with landing gear down and locked, 60% flaps, and displaced 1.9 nautical miles from the runway. The MSP was 18 knots above final turn speed and 0.4 NM wide when initiating the turn to final. The MIP directed the MSP to roll out on an approximately 40-degree intercept heading to final and to slow down. The MSP retracted the throttles to idle and began a 30-35 degree left bank to align with the runway. As the aircraft decelerated through 164 KCAS (8 knots below final approach speed), the MIP took control, rolled wings level, pitched up, and advanced the throttles to maximum afterburner. At this point, the throttles had been at idle for 18 seconds, and the aircraft had decelerated to 155 KCAS (17 knots below final approach speed) while descending through 250 feet mean sea level at a 1,100 feet per minute sink rate. The aircraft impacted the ground seconds later, approximately 1,800 feet from the approach end of Runway 28. Both pilots were fatally injured on impact.
Investigation Findings
The investigation found that the cause of the mishap was the MIP's loss of situational awareness on final approach and failure to take timely and necessary actions as a dangerous situation developed. The MSP substantially contributed by becoming task saturated in the traffic pattern and placing and leaving the throttles in idle. As the approach progressed, the MIP did not recognize the aircraft's deteriorating performance due to the extended idle throttle setting, which, combined with flight control inputs to align with the runway, resulted in insufficient airspeed and altitude, increased angle of attack, and a high sink rate, placing the aircraft outside safe flight parameters.