| Date: | Wednesday 13 January 1999 |
| Time: | 20:39 |
| Type: |  Boeing KC-135E Stratotanker |
| Owner/operator: | Air National Guard |
| Registration: | 59-1452 |
| MSN: | 17940/355 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1960 |
| Engine model: | P&W TF33-PW-102 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Geilenkirchen Airport (GKE) -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Geilenkirchen Airport (GKE/ETNG) |
| Geilenkirchen Airport (GKE/ETNG) | |
| Investigating agency: | USAF AIB |
The mishap aircraft, call sign ESSO 77, departed Geilenkirchen Air Base in Germany at in 16:03Z with four crewmembers, 100,000 pounds of fuel, and no cargo.
The mission was scheduled as a routine air refueling training mission. The mission was planned to refuel in KIM Air Refueling Area; however, due to the forecast of severe clear air turbulence, the air refueling area was changed to Air Refueling Area 7 (ARA 7). The aircraft flew to ARA 7 over the North Sea and refueled a NATO E-3A (call sign NATO 14) aircraft at Flight Level 250 . After completing the air refueling, an enroute descent was flown to Geilenkirchen AB. The mishap crew called the Geilenkirchen Command Post thirty-two minutes prior to the mishap and reported fuel offload and no aircraft maintenance problems. The crew was cleared for an ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach with a planned full stop landing on Runway 27. After a normal flare to landing and descent to a point on or near the runway, the crew attempted to go around out of the landing attitude. The mishap crew made the radio call "ESSO 77 on the go". The aircraft attained a very high pitch attitude, approaching the vertical, climbed to approximately 1300 feet AGL, stalled and impacted the ground in a nose low attitude 250 feet west and 910 feet north of departure end runway 27. The impact resulted in the death of all four crewmembers and the destruction of the aircraft.
Statement of Opinion by USAF AIB President:
I was unable to find clear and convincing evidence as to the cause of this accident. The aircraft's pitch up to a near vertical attitude and subsequent stall were the cause of the crash. However, I was unable to find proof as to the cause of the pitch up. I believe the horizontal stabilizer trim was in a 7.5 nose up trim condition during the landing flare. The pilot, realizing he was landing long and might not be able to stop in the confines of the runway, elected to go around out of the landing attitude. The upward vector from the power application in conjunction with the nose up trim setting resulted in the pitch up and stall. I believe that the cause of the nose up trim setting was either the result of an un-commanded runaway trim malfunction or the result of the pilot trimming to the landing attitude. The absence of empirical data makes it impossible to determine how the aircraft trim was moved to the 7.5 nose high attitude.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
USAF AIB
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Sep-2025 10:45 | Anon. | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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