Narrative:A USMC Lockheed KC-130R Hercules transport plane was destroyed in an accident near Shamsi, Pakistan. All seven crew members were killed.
|Date:||Wednesday 9 January 2002|
|Type:||Lockheed KC-130R Hercules|
|Operator:||United States Marine Corps|
|C/n / msn:|| 4702|
|First flight:|| 1976|
|Crew:||Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7|
|Passengers:||Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0|
|Total:||Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
|Airplane damage:|| Destroyed|
|Airplane fate:|| Written off (damaged beyond repair)|
|Location:||near Shamsi ( Pakistan)
|Phase:|| Approach (APR)|
|Departure airport:||Jacobabad Airport (JAG/OPJA), Pakistan|
|Destination airport:||Shamsi, Pakistan|
The crew had requested a non-standard approach night time from the northeast, possibly because they were running half an hour late.
This request was denied as USMC aircraft were only allowed to land from the southwest to avoid overflying Shamsi at night. The crew then circled over a ridge with their altitude dropping to 3200 feet below the minimum safe altitude.
The airplane struck a mountainside at 3800 feet. The crew likely became disoriented while attempting the night landing.
The aircraft was attached to VMGR-352, MCAS Miramar, California.
» KC-130 crashes in Pakistan (Headquarters United States Central Command, News Release 01-02)
» Marine Air Transporter (MCATA), January 2002
» Air Forces Monthly, August 2002
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Networkĺs opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.