Deadly Air Force cargo plane crash blamed on goggles case

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- An October 2015 crash of a U.S. military cargo plane in Afghanistan, in which 14 people were killed, was blamed on improper placement of a goggles case in the cockpit.

The massive C-130J four-engine cargo plane crashed within minutes of takeoff from Jalalabad Airport in eastern Afghanistan. All eleven people aboard the plane, and three Afghan guards in a guard tower that was struck by the plane, died.

Taliban fighters immediately took credit for shooting down the aircraft, but U.S. military officials quickly discredited their claims. A 43-page report, released Tuesday by the U.S. Air Force Aircraft Investigation Board, said the plane crashed because a googles case, used to store night-vision goggles, was lodged in the plane's controls, stopping the motion of the steering yoke.

The report said the pilot, while the plane was on the ground and cargo was loaded into it, put the goggle case on the steering yoke to prop up the elevators on the plane's tail. The action accommodated cargo-loading crews dealing with tall cargo. The goggles case was never removed, though, blocking the pilot's adjustments of the plane's steering.

"The blocking of the flight controls during loading operations is a non-standard procedure," the report said, "[and] as such, there is no regulatory guidance to prohibit the act, or to address the proper placement and removal of the object blocking the controls."

It added, though, it was the responsibility of the pilot or co-pilot to remove the impediment.