If the aircraft was headed for the Boneyard (and retirement from active service), that only compounds the tragedy. Prayers for those airmen and their loved ones, from someone who flew aging Herks back in the day.
Various databases indicate the aircraft was a weather recce bird for much of its career, assigned to the famous “Hurricane Hunters” of the 53rd WRS at Keesler AFB, MS. When that squadron upgraded to the newer J model, some of the older WC-13oH’s were transferred to the Puerto Rico ANG. Reportedly, the PR unit has some of the oldest Herks in the inventory, and it’s quite likely the 53-year-old bird was heading to D-M for final disposal in the Boneyard.
I was looking at the photos to see if I could see a tail number, but no. I was in the 53rd WRS when it was still at Ramey AFB in Puerto Rico and may have photos of that bird back in it’s glory days. Who know, I may even have flown on it. A sad end to one of the great planes...