The Martin 2-0-2 operating the flight departed Harrisburg with 26 passengers and crew on board and crashed while maneuvering to land at Williamsport Regional Airport in poor weather.

Flight 371 departed Harrisburg at 09:06 with 22 revenue passengers, 4 crew members and 598 pounds of baggage, mail, and cargo.

[citation needed] On Tuesday, 1 December 1959 at 09:06 EST (14:06 UTC) Allegheny Airlines Flight 371 departed Harrisburg-York State Airport with 22 revenue passengers, one additional crew member, and 598 pounds of cargo.

This was observed by an airport employee and the captain of a Capital Airlines Douglas DC-3 holding short of runway 27 awaiting Flight 371's arrival.

Twenty-five people on board were killed, with a manager of a Philadelphia sportswear company who was on a business trip as the only survivor.

Possible causes for the crash released in a pre-investigation interview were that of pilot error, inclement weather conditions, cockpit instrumental or mechanical failure.

The probable accidental caging of the fluxgate compass, which would have resulted in an erroneous heading indication, is considered to be a likely contributing factor."

[5] In May 2014, a Williamsport-area resident, Shane Collins, and his cousin, Mark Avery, re-located the Flight 371 crash site on Bald Eagle Mountain using GPS.