The aircraft in question was an Li-2 (itself a Soviet license-built version of the DC-3) with the serial number 23442810, produced by the Tashkent Aviation Plant in 1952 and transferred to the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet.

At 07:04, Flight 542 had an on-time departure bound for Kyzyl with Captain Andrukhin Dmitry Fedorovich and First Officer Babich Nikolay Ilyich in command.

On June 1, the search got underway and scattered debris was found from the air 600 metres (660 yd) north of the crash site, including the left aileron and fairing, rudder, and the upper part of the keel.

Studying the wreckage, the investigators envisioned the following: flying through a pass, the craft got into a descending turbulent air stream and began to lose altitude.

Acting on the controls, the pilots tried to pull the nose of the aircraft up, and due to the resulting high aerodynamic loads, the end fairing of the left wing collapsed.

But at the same time, earlier in the course of the numerous static tests conducted, as well as during the operation of Li-2 aircraft, wing destruction was not revealed in the place where it happened with Flight 542.