According to the weather forecast of the crew in Ashgabat, the sky was covered by cumulonimbus clouds with a lower boundary of 600-1,000 meters.

Five to twenty minutes after departure from Krasnovodsk, at a flight level of 6,000 meters, the aircraft encountered heavy turbulence, making the crew change course.

The air traffic controllers made no attempt to re-contact the aircraft to report the actual weather and redirect it to an alternate airport.

[2] When the aircraft was 25 kilometers north of the airport, the crew began to perform a landing approach with a heading of 295 °.

Due to strong atmospheric interference, the radio compass began to give false readings, including the flights non-directional beacon.

While landing, the aircraft headlights were turned on, which is a mistake in a dust storm as it creates a screen that reduces visibility.

[2] While attempting to land, the aircraft unexpectedly fell into strong turbulence with a wind of 20-25 m / s and visibility dropping to 30 meters.

The air traffic controllers were blamed for the crash as they did not give the crew updated weather information or attempt to offer the flight an alternate airport.