2017 United States Marine Corps KC-130 crash
Lockheed KC-130T Hercules · In-flight breakup at cruise altitude due to improper maintenance
From Cherry Point MCAS / Cunningham Field/ (KNKT) to El Centro NAF Airport (Vraciu Field) (NJK)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 16 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 16
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Lockheed KC-130T Hercules
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed KC-130
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 165000
- Operator
- United States Marine Corps
- Onboard fatalities
- 16
- Route
- From Cherry Point MCAS / Cunningham Field/ (KNKT)To El Centro NAF Airport (Vraciu Field) (NJK)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service
- Aircraft › Aircraft propeller/rotor
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 10 July 2017, a Lockheed KC-130T Hercules aircraft belonging to the United States Marine Corps (USMC) crashed in Leflore County, Mississippi, killing all 16 people on board. The aircraft had the call sign "Yanky 72" and was from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452 (VMGR-452) based at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York. Debris from the aircraft was found in Leflore County, Mississippi.
The crash is the deadliest Marine Corps disaster since 2005, when a U.S. Marine Corps Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed in Iraq, killing 31 people.
Accident
The flight took off from Cherry Point at 14:07 EDT, with the callsign "Yanky 72." The aircraft was en route to Naval Air Facility El Centro in California. At 15:49:24 EDT, the crew made a routine transmission to Memphis ARTCC, after that, nothing more was heard from the flight. Radar contact was abruptly lost minutes later. After nine unsuccessful attempts by Memphis ARTCC to reach the aircraft, another flight reported seeing a plume of smoke. The plane had apparently crashed 85 mi north of Jackson, Mississippi, killing all sixteen occupants. Brigadier General Bradley James said immediately after the accident, "Indications are something went wrong at cruise altitude." The aircraft was also reported to have been carrying weapons and ammunition. Debris was spread in a 5 mi radius from the crash site and firefighters attending the crash site used 4000 USgal of foam to extinguish the post-crash fire. Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft on fire with a smoking engine and descending in a flat spin.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
According to the accident report published by the USMC, the accident was caused by improper repairs conducted in 2011 on a corroded propeller blade. While the aircraft was not equipped with a Flight Data Recorder or a Cockpit Voice Recorder, investigators were able to determine through available evidence and engineering data that the blade belonging to the inner-left engine failed while the aircraft was cruising at 20,000 feet. It passed through the left side of the fuselage and embedded itself in the inner-right wall of the passenger compartment. The blade striking the fuselage created a shock that traveled through the aircraft and caused the propeller and part of the reduction gearbox from the inner-right engine to separate and impact the right forward fuselage, "momentarily embedded into the upper right section," before striking and removing most of the right horizontal stabilizer. The forward fuselage, including the flight deck, separated at a point 19 feet forward of the leading edge of the wingbox. The remains of the fuselage section ahead of the wingbox was then quickly torn apart by aerodynamic forces, after which the remains of the aircraft rapidly descended to the ground.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2017 United States Marine Corps KC-130 crash” (revision 1373869915, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2017 United States Marine Corps KC-130 crash
- Revision
- 1373869915 · 2026-09-08 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q32900831
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2017 United States Marine Corps KC-130 crash" (page 54519485, revision 1373869915)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.