Due to the prolonged airport closures, many passengers chose to return their tickets and travel by ground transport.

The flight was piloted by a crew consisting of Captain Akhdrin Bardzilivosovich Oganesyan, First Officer Asatur Nikolaevich Shabonyan, Navigator Gurgen Vantshevik Shakhbazyan, Flight Engineer Grant Grigorievich Budurov, Radio Operator Roland Agavartovich Mkhitaryan, and trainee radio operator G. K. Nikoghosyan.

The cabin crew included Flight Attendants A. O. Shahatuni, Aleksandra Mikhailovna Proskurina, and Marieta Khasraevna Astatryan.

On board the 84-seat airliner were 110 passengers, 26 of whom stood or sat in the aisles, with some even occupying the coat closet and galley.

After completing the fourth turn (onto the final approach), the aircraft was 20 kilometers from the airport and deviated 800–900 meters to the right of the centerline.

The crash resulted in the deaths of the trainee radio operator (Nikoghosyan), a flight attendant (Shahatuni), and 30 passengers.

The pilots deviated significantly to the right while maintaining an altitude of 90 meters, leading the aircraft to crash into the hillside shortly thereafter.

This was exacerbated by the significantly deteriorating weather conditions, the last report of which had been transmitted half an hour earlier, and the distraction caused by the controller's query about the visibility of the runway, which diverted the crew's attention from monitoring the instruments.