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I presume y'all have probably seen this by now...warning, the video will make your stomach curl.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/03/world/asi ... ?hpt=hp_t3

Most likely a combination of the super steep climb and a load shift. MRAP's weigh like 13 tons each, and it was carrying five. It's not inconceivable that in that kind of high-stress takeoff, one or more of the MRAP's could have been jerked hard enough to come loose. Then with the plane already in a hard climb, a significant load shift toward aft would potentially pull the nose too high, leading to the stall. Having the gear down so long was extra drag that certainly didn't help either. Saddest part is, they still got back to something close to glide angle; if they had more altitude, it might have been recoverable, and you can bet the pilots probably were fighting for that the whole way. RIP to the crew.

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Indeed they tried to get control and given that it looks as if they aimed for heading for an unoccupied part of the air base as things went further wrong for them.

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Karagin-

Darkness is a friend of mine. Sometimes I have to beat it back, or it would overwhelm me. Shirley Meier

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The Wookiee, he's not wearing any pants!

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Update: the crash investigation confirmed the load shift hypothesis.

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Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it.