United States Marines Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

(USMC) Lockheed KC-130F Hercules, ferrying a group of US marines back to South Vietnam from rest-and-relaxation leave in then-British

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, crashed on take-off, causing a total of 59 deaths out of all 71 (both the flight-crew and the passengers) on board the aircraft on August 24, 1965.

The accident

The accident began after the aircraft, a USMC Lockheed KC-130F Hercules (Bu.No.149802), veered left shortly after take-off, struck a sea-wall and then crashed and plunged into the waters surrounding Kai Tak Airport's runway at a distance of off Hong Kong Island.

Cause

The cause of the accident regarding the aircraft's crash was attributed to a partial failure of the No.1 engine during the plane's take-off from the runway.

References

{{Portal bar, 1960s, Aviation Airliner accidents and incidents caused by engine failure Accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed C-130 Hercules Aviation accidents and incidents in 1965 1965 in Hong Kong Accidents and incidents involving United States Navy and Marine Corps aircraft Aviation accidents and incidents in Hong Kong