The flight, operating a Bogotá-Barranquilla-Valledupar-Riohacha-Medellín-Bogotá route, crashed at 2:23 p.m. local time, ten minutes after takeoff from Riohacha.

It was re-authorized for domestic operation before the accident, but because of the high demand of the Christmas season, some suspect that the plane was rushed into service before all maintenance was properly finished.

Sources in Barranquilla said that pilot Jorge Jimenez reported technical problems prior to the explosion.

Some Arhuaco indigenous peoples arrived in Riohacha sometime after the crash and reported having seen a plane engulfed in flames.

[2] According to taxi driver César Rafael Díaz, who give a bottle of whiskey to the captain Jorge Jimenez before the flight noted that when the plane was on the tarmac, an oil leak was spotted in the right turbine.

[3] It was thought at first that musicians from the group "Los Hermanos Monroy," who had performed in Maicao the night before, had been on board.