In Okhotsk, the crew received a weather forecast for Magadan: continuous with breaks (7-10 tenths) stratocumulus and nimbostratus cloud cover with a base of 300–600 meters, calm wind, rain, and visibility ranging from 4 to 10 kilometers.

At 02:48, the crew reported passing over the beacon, and the flight director granted permission to descend and break through the clouds according to the established procedure.

Later, during questioning, the flight director stated that he provided the crew with landing conditions and weather information, including the cloud base at 600 meters.

At 02:50 (11:50 local time), the Il-12 flying in the clouds at an altitude of 430 meters clipped the tops of several trees, and then, 16.5 kilometers south of the airport, crashed into the Marchekan Hill on the Staritsky Peninsula.

Contributing to the disaster was also the fact that the commander began the approach under weather conditions below the minimum and deviated from the established procedure during the cloud break.