The next day, the crew decided to fly to Adler via Yevlakh and Tbilisi, without ATC permission.

ATC reported that the radio was working, but the direction finder could not detect the aircraft.

Due to a malfunction of the automatic transmitter, messages were sent every 3-6 minutes instead of the normal 30 seconds.

The pilot, flying blind, probably attempted to straighten the route and fly to Tbilisi directly, but this would take the aircraft over the southern slopes of the Main Caucasian Ridge and 70–80 km (43–50 mi) from Yevlakh.

Due to the radio problems, the crew probably became disorientated and later descended below the clouds thinking they were near Baku, when it fact they were further north over mountains, where the aircraft probably struck a mountain hidden in cloud.