[1] Operating in bright sunshine beneath a scattered cloud layer, Flights 290 and 671 collided at 10:36:47 a.m. CDT over Wisconsin's Lake Winnebago about six nautical miles (6.9 mi; 11 km) south of Appleton and 2.5 nautical miles (2.9 mi; 4.6 km) east of Neenah, Wisconsin, at an altitude of about 2,500 feet (762 m).
The collision left both aircraft uncontrollable resulting in both crashing into Lake Winnebago around two nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) east of Neenah Light.
The National Transportation Safety Board noted that the North Central crew would have had to look toward the sun to see the approaching Air Wisconsin plane[2][6] and concluded that they took no evasive action.
[2] The North Central plane had two passengers and a crew of three (Captain James Cuzzort, First Officer Alton Laabs, and Flight Attendant Frances Rabb) on board, while the Air Wisconsin flight was carrying six passengers and a crew of two (Captain David Jacobs and First Officer Michael Gaffin).
All 13 people aboard the two planes died in the collision and subsequent crash, and the NTSB observed that the accident was not survivable.
"[2] The NTSB speculated that both flight crews could have been scanning instruments in preparation for descent to their respective destinations at the time of the collision, and this could have reduced their chances of spotting one another.