The captain had continued an unstabilised approach, despite three calls from the first officer to initiate a "go-around", resulting in the aircraft overshooting the runway, falling down a hillside, and bursting into flames.

[2][3] The crew consisted of Captain Zlatko Glušica, First Officer Harbinder Singh Ahluwalia, and four flight attendants.

[8]: 5  Situated in a hilly area, the airport is one of seven Indian airports designated as a "critical airfield" by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, whose rules at critical airfields prohibit "supervised takeoffs and landings", i.e., only the captain (not the first officer) may pilot an aircraft during takeoff and landing.

As the aircraft passed the arrestor bed, its starboard wing collided with the concrete socket of the ILS localiser antenna; it finally plunged over the edge of the table-top about 790 feet (240 m) beyond the end of the runway and down the steep hillside, coming to a stop 660 to 980 feet (200 to 300 m) past the top of the slope.

[17][Note 1] Television footage from shortly after the crash showed the remains of the aircraft on fire and lying on its belly with smoke rising from the wreckage.

[27][28] On 27 July 2010, the names of all the victims were inscribed on a memorial installed near the crash site,[34] which was destroyed by vandals on 5 October 2010.

[40] After the rapid establishment of a special emergency information service,[6] Praful Patel, the Indian Minister for Civil Aviation, arrived from New Delhi to be at the scene[6] and the one-year-in-office celebrations of the UPA government's second tenure were postponed.

The chairperson of the governing UPA, Sonia Gandhi, issued a message of grief and wished a "speedy recovery" to all.

[45] Initial investigations revealed that the plane landed at least 5,200 feet (1,600 m) beyond the usual touchdown point on Mangalore's new 8,000-foot (2,400 m) runway 24.

The aircraft's throttle handle was found in the forward position, suggesting that the pilot had attempted to abort the landing and take off again.

[53] The recorders were sent to New Delhi by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for data acquisition and analysis[54] and subsequently to the US NTSB for investigation.

[56] The Director General of the DGCA said that it would be set up thorough legislation, and would comply with the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

[57] Analysis of the accident revealed that had the pilot "deployed detent reverse thrust and applied maximum manual braking at touchdown", the aircraft could have stopped within the paved overrun area of the runway.

[60] The "Gokhale Inquiry" was to investigate the reasons behind the crash[60] and submit its findings by 31 August 2010, a deadline later extended by a month to 30 September 2010.

[62] On 17 August 2010, the court of inquiry began a three-day public hearing in Mangalore to interview airport officials and witnesses.

[65] Doctors who conducted post mortem examinations on the bodies recovered recorded that most victims had died of burns.

[68] For 110 minutes, the CVR had picked up no conversation from the pilots, with the report adding that the sound of nasal snoring and deep breathing could be heard during this recording.

[8][69][70][71] As of January 2013[update], the DGCA, AAI, Ministry of Aviation, and the government of India have not implemented the recommendations of the 812 crash inquiry committee.

[78] Victims' families have become increasingly vocal as to the inequitable nature of compensation paid out by Air India,[79][80] and also of the alleged hostile attitude of the airline's counsel.

[79] Members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India along with Kasargod MP P Karunkaran staged a protest on 8 September 2010 at the airline's office in Mangalore, where they submitted a memorandum to officials demanding that families of the victims receive early and equitable settlements of compensation due.

In its ruling, the court noted that India was a signatory to the Montreal Convention: "It is clear that the intention of lawmakers was to bring about a parity in the matter of payment of compensation to the passengers, irrespective of class of travel, while providing for a 'two-tier system' of compensation as adopted in Montreal convention.

[83] The district administration on 27 May 2010 had buried the remains of 12 unidentified and unclaimed victims at a plot on the banks of the Phalguni river belonging to the NMPT on Tannirbhavi Road, just after the exit of Kulur Bridge.