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Fabrication
The aircraft, a Lockheed Martin KC-130T Hercules, is a tanker transport aircraft of the United States Marine Corps built in 1992. It was first flown to Afghanistan completing a succesful flight. -
Damage during Storm
The aircraft was damaged during a storm in Fort Worth, Texas in 2004 at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base. The Lockheed aircraft was damaged from the refueling port, but it was repaired and placed back into service. -
Maintenance Service
The KC-130T aircraft entered for a maintenance service in 2011 for a corroded propeller blade, where the Air Force maintenance depot workers failed to fix the blade and sent it back to the the fleet unrepaired. -
The Accident
While the aircraft was flying at 20,000 feet, the number four blade from the number two propeller departed and sliced through the left side of the fuselage, and impacted the interior of the right side, initiating the catastrophic sequence of events. The accident killed everyone on board and ultimately, the aircraft broke into three-pieces mid-air. -
Prevention of the Accident
According to the Marine Corps investigation, on April 26, 2017, the mishap aircraft had sat idle for 56 days, which should have triggered an inspection, but an eddy current analysis was never performed. -
Accident Pt.2
The impact caused the skin of the aircraft to separate along the starboard side. The energy transferred from P2B4's impact through the structure of the airframe also caused an overload condition of propeller three's drive shaft. This resulted in its associated reduction gearbox assembly failing and the separation of propeller three from the aircraft. Propeller three then momentarily embedded into the upper right section of the fuselage. -
Accident Pt.3
Finally, the propeller three embedded into the upper right section of the fuselage, after which, it continued over the aft starboard section of the fuselage and impacted the starboard horizontal stabilizer separating a significant portion of the stabilizer from the aircraft. -
Memorial
A memorial located near the crash site in Leflore County was dedicated to the Marines and sailors who died in the KC-103T cargo aircraft on July 10, 2017.