The plane was owned by TAME, the Ecuadorian airline, but was being operated on a wet-lease basis to Air France as the final leg of its flight from Paris.

[2]: 4–6 The weather conditions were 7-kilometre (4.3 mi; 3.8 nmi) visibility, limited by a broken ceiling layer of cumulonimbus clouds 2,000 feet (610 m) above the aerodrome; a temperature of 16 °C (61 °F); and an altimeter pressure decrease from (3,031 to 3,024 inHg (10,260 to 10,240 kPa)).

The aircraft was cleared to Quito International Airport via the Girardot 1 (GIR1) departure, which consisted of a right turn after takeoff (over the Romeo/R NDB) for noise abatement, and subsequent transitioning (via VIOTA) to a south-west route.

The procedure was also planned to prevent transit ahead of the 19 DME arc of the Bogotá VOR, a mountainous zone whose minimum altitude increases drastically to 14,000 feet (4,267 m).

Investigators concluded that the acceleration toward 260 knots resulted in loss of situational awareness by the crew, with the single-minded focus on gaining airspeed leading to disregard of safe navigation of the aircraft.