Charleston - Charleston

On September 18, 1979 at 12:00 AM, Charleston - Charleston experienced a crash involving Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Charleston-Intl South Carolina.

The flight was categorized as training and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

6 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 6 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The crew was completing a local training mission at Charleston Airport. Upon landing, the crew noticed the lack of a 'brakes released' light. After touchdown, thrust reversers failed to deploy because they were locked out by the touchdown relay, still in the Flight Mode. However, due to a malfunction, the n°4 thrust reverser did deploy. Normal brakes were inoperative. The copilot selected emergency brakes and then continued to make multiple attempts to deploy the spoilers. This caused the n°3 hydraulic system to lose pressure due to which in turn the emergency brakes failed. Then an electrical malfunction within the gear handle caused the nose gear to retract. The airplane came to rest in flames on its belly. All six crew members escaped with minor injuries while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Aircraft reference details include registration 64-0647, MSN 300-6060, year of manufacture 1960.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 32.8803°, -80.0386°.