Clark - Kadena - Yokota - McChord

On March 21, 1975 at 11:15 PM, Clark - Kadena - Yokota - McChord experienced a crash involving Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Mt Constance Washington.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

16 people were known to be on board, 16 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 12, passenger fatalities: 12, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The airplane was conducting a flight from Clark AFB, Philippines, to McChord AFB with intermediate stops at Kadena AFB, Okinawa, and Yokota AFB, Tokyo, carrying 16 people among them six marines. En route to McChord, while cruising by night, the crew established contact with ATC and was cleared to descend from FL370 to FL150 then FL100. Few minutes later, after confusing the C-141 with another Navy aircraft, the air traffic controller cleared the crew to descent to 5,000 feet which was a too low altitude for the area. While descending at an altitude of 7,000 feet in limited visibility, the four engine airplane struck the slope of Mt Constance (7,756 feet high) located in the Olympic National Park, about 52 miles northwest of McChord AFB. The airplane impacted the mountain about 150 feet below the summit and caused an avalanche. Debris were found scattered on a wide area and none of the 16 occupants survived the crash.

Aircraft reference details include registration 64-0641, MSN 6054, year of manufacture 1964.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 47.7727°, -123.1273°.