What happened
On 19 February 2021, at approximately 4:40 p.m. local time, a T-38C, registration 68-8099, struck terrain short of Runway 28 during an instrument approach at Montgomery Regional Airport (Dannelly Field), Alabama. The aircraft, part of the 50th Flying Training Squadron based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, was conducting the first leg of a student cross-country mission.
The crew consisted of a First Assignment Instructor Pilot and a Japanese student pilot. During a circling approach, the student pilot was flying the downwind leg with landing gear extended and 60% flaps. The aircraft was traveling 18 knots above final turn speed and was positioned 0.4 NM wide of the runway. To correct the undershot approach, the instructor pilot directed the student to roll onto an intercept heading and reduce speed. In response, the student pilot moved the throttles to idle and initiated a left bank turn to align with the runway.
As the aircraft decelerable through 164 KCAS—8 knots below the required final approach speed—the instructor pilot took control of the aircraft. The instructor leveled the wings, pitched up, and advanced the throttles to maximum afterburner. However, because the throttles had remained at idle for 18 seconds, the aircraft had decelerated to 155 KCAS and was descending at a rate of 1,100 feet per minute. Seconds later, the T-38C impacted the ground roughly 1,800 feet from the runway threshold, resulting in two fatalities.
The investigation
The investigation examined the flight data, aircraft systems, and human factors involved in the mishap. Investigators analyzed the crew's performance during the circling maneuver, specifically looking at the management of airspeed and altitude. The board also reviewed maintenance records for 68-8099, weather conditions at Dannelly Field, and the training status of both the instructor and student pilots within the 14th Flying Training Wing.