On 12 May 2010 at about 06:01 local time (04:01 UTC) while on approach to Tripoli International Airport, the aircraft crashed about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft; 1,300 yd) short of the runway.

Since Tripoli was the home base for Afriqiyah Airways, the crew had been familiarised with their approach and thus decided to end the briefing earlier, only commenting on several things, including the active runway, the locator beacon, and the aircraft's faulty autobrake system.

[10]: 66–67 Following al-Saadi's order to go-around, First Officer Abu-al-Shawashi immediately set the thrust levers to TO/GA power and the pitch was raised to around 12.3° nose up.

Captain al-Saadi, still surprised by the sudden decision to abort the approach, failed to conduct the necessary callouts for the go-around, prompting First Officer Abu-al-Shawashi to question him.

Instead of correcting the aircraft's attitude, he kept his attention to the flaps, apparently became fixated as he had been involved in a previous overspeed incident in Tripoli.

[10]: 67–69 Two seconds later, the aircraft crashed into the ground at a speed of 262 knots (302 mph; 485 km/h), about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft; 1,300 yd) short of Runway 09, outside the airport perimeter.

[23][24] The sole survivor was a 9-year-old Dutch boy, Ruben van Assouw, from Tilburg,[6][25][26] who was returning from a safari with his parents and brother (all of whom died in the accident).

[2][30] Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Captain Sabri Shadi, the head of Afriqiyah Airways, visited the boy while he was hospitalised in Libya.

[37] On the evening of 12 May 2010, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that one of its passport holders was on the plane, novelist Bree O'Mara.

A flight carrying officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and personnel of the Dutch National Forensic Investigation Team would be flown on the next day.

The service was attended by relatives of the victims, government officials and members of the Dutch Royal Family, including Queen Beatrix.

The then-Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende, expressed his deepest sympathy to the families, later thanking the Libyan authorities for their good cooperation.

[48][49] The conduct of the press during the crash was openly criticised by the Dutch government and public due to what they considered blatant disregard of the privacy of the victims.

André Rouvoet, caretaker of the Minister for Youth and Family Policy, called De Telegraaf's action "shameless," stating, "How dare you?!"

[53] Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ed Kronenburg [nl], called the interview "reprehensible," adding that he wanted to discuss with the hospital reports that journalists were able to gain access to Ruben's bed.

Mayor of Roermond, Rianne Donders, whose son was killed in the crash, admitted that families of the victims had to meet in secret to prevent the media from following them.

The group accused the authorities of unequal treatment, claiming that Western press were allowed to take photos, record, and interview Ruben.

[56] Following the commotion, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called the media to grant the relatives peace as they were dealing with their grief and loss.

[58] The Netherlands Journalist Council issued a full ruling on the aspects of reporting in regard to the privacy of the relatives of the victims.

[28] Airbus stated that it would provide full technical assistance to the authorities investigating the crash,[60] and would do so via the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA).

[10] : 63–64 However, when First Officer Abu-al-Shawashi decided to conduct the procedure, he actually had misunderstood the order, as he thought that Captain al-Saadi was asking him to change the method of their approach.

[10]: 64–65 Eventually, the three-degree glideslope angle, which was used in the "selected guidance" mode, was called out by First Officer Abu-al-Shawashi, and the aircraft descended way short of the beacon "TW."

He then tried to raise the nose up to prepare for another approach, but Captain al-Saadi decided to take over the control by pressing the priority button and made a maximum nose-down input long enough to cause the alarm to warn them of their impending collision.

The flight recording, however, indicated that both of them were ill-prepared with the approach, considering the multiple misunderstandings that happened in-flight, even though they were initially on the same page regarding the method that they were going to take.

Meanwhile, Captain al-Saadi was still preoccupied with the relay from his fellow pilot and, as a result, didn't notice that it had descended earlier than it was supposed to.

[10] : 65–69 The issue should have been resolved by Captain al-Saadi, whose job during the flight was supposed to monitor the instruments, which would have shown that the aircraft was flying towards the ground.

[10]: 65–69 Knowing that they were going to pass the overspeed limit, First Officer Abu-al-Shawashi decided to make a nose-up input, though he was still unaware that the aircraft was descending rapidly.

First Officer Abu-al-Shawashi didn't realise that the aircraft, which had been controlled by him as the pilot flying during the entire flight prior, had been taken over by Captain al-Saadi.

[10][75]: 72 Apart from the flight crew's avoidance to report the incident to Afriqiyah Airways, the investigation revealed that the analysis system within the airline was lacking.

Crew resource management lacked/was insufficient, sensory illusions, and the first officer's inputs to the aircraft side-stick were a contributing factor in the crash.