On 23 August 1995, the aircraft and its crew had departed RAF Kinloss for Canada, where it was scheduled to take part in two separate air shows.

As it reached the top of the climb, the airspeed fell to 122 knots as a result of the engines being powered back, before the aircraft banked and pointed downwards.

[5] To help with the search, a boat from the Toronto Police Service made its way to the crash site and dropped a remotely operated underwater vehicle containing sonar and video cameras.

[6] A significant amount of data was available, given the public nature of the accident, and the RAF inquiry was able to determine that all of the aircraft's systems had been functioning normally, making it possible to rule out any mechanical or structural failure of the Nimrod as a potential cause.

Instead, on deploying to Canada, the captain amended the manoeuvre by tightening his turn to avoid crossing over the crowd through reducing engine power.

This removed the safety margins for the aircraft in performing the display manoeuvres (primarily the dumb-bell) as it took it below the recommended speed and led to it stalling.