1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 Crash

1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 Crash

On April 3, 1996, a United States Air Force CT-43A crashed on approach to Dubrovnik, Croatia while on an official trade mission. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-253 built as a T-43 navigation trainer, was carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and 34 other people, including The New York Times Frankfurt Bureau chief Nathaniel C. Nash. While attempting an instrument approach to Dubrovnik Airport, the airplane crashed into a mountainside killing everyone on board. Air Force Tech. Sgt Shelly Kelly initially survived the impact of the crash but died from her injuries hours later in an ambulance.

The aircraft was operated by the 86th Airlift Wing, based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Unlike civilian 737s, the military CT-43A version was equipped with neither a flight data recorder nor a cockpit voice recorder.