[1]: 13  The radar weather system had a forward-looking design that offered the flight crew only a limited field of view in front of the aircraft.

He held the rank of lieutenant colonel with the US Air Force Reserve Command, and was hired by American Airlines in July 1979.

[1]: 2 At 23:04 (11:04 pm), air traffic controllers issued a weather advisory indicating severe thunderstorms in an area that included the Little Rock airport,[1]: 2  and the flight crew witnessed lightning while on approach.

[1]: 116  As the aircraft approached, a severe thunderstorm arrived over the airport, and at 23:44 (11:44 pm), the first officer notified the controller that the crew had lost sight of the runway.

[1]: 4 The pilots rushed to land as soon as possible, leading to errors in judgment that included the crew's failure to complete the airline's pre-landing checklist before descending.

[1]: 123 At 23:49:32 (11:49:32 pm), the controller issued the last weather report before Flight 1420 landed, and advised that winds at the airport were 330° at 25 knots (29 mph; 13 m/s).

[1]: 167  Autospoilers and autobrakes are essential to ensure the plane's ability to stop within the confines of a wet runway, especially one that is being subjected to strong and gusting winds.

Spoilers disrupt the airflow over the wings, prevent them from generating lift, and cause more of the plane's weight to be borne by the landing gear.

[1]: 134  With the light loading of the landing gear, the aircraft's brakes were ineffective at slowing down the plane, which continued down the runway at high speed.

[1]: =134–135  Directional control was lost when Captain Buschmann applied too much reverse thrust, which reduced the effectiveness of the plane's rudder and vertical stabilizer.

[1]: =135–136 The aircraft continued past the end of the runway, traveling another 800 feet (240 m; 270 yd), and striking a security fence and an ILS localizer array.

[1]: 43  Such structures are usually frangible, designed to shear off on impact, but because the approach lights were located on the unstable river bank, they were firmly anchored.

[1]: 159  The collision with the sturdy structure crushed the airplane's nose, and destroyed the left side of the plane's fuselage, from the cockpit back to the first two rows of coach seating.

[1]: 42  The NTSB conducted two test flights of American Airlines MD-80 aircraft, which confirmed that manually arming the spoiler created an audible "click" noise—distinguishable from noises made by automatic deployment of the system—that could be clearly heard on CVR playback.

On October 23, 2001, the NTSB issued its determination on the cause of the crash:[1]: =169–170 The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes of this accident were the flight crew's failure to discontinue the approach when severe thunderstorms and their associated hazards to flight operations had moved into the airport area, and the crew's failure to ensure that the spoilers had extended after touchdown.

Contributing to the accident were the flight crew's (1) impaired performance resulting from fatigue, and the situational stress associated with the intent to land under the circumstances; (2) continuation of the approach to a landing when the company's maximum crosswind component was exceeded; and (3) use of reverse thrust greater than 1.3 engine pressure ratio after landing.Multiple lawsuits were filed after the crash, and on December 15, 1999, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the various federal lawsuits for consolidated and coordinated pretrial proceedings, and assigned the case to United States District Court Senior Judge Henry Woods of the Eastern District of Arkansas.

American Airlines "admitted liability for the crash, and individual trials were scheduled to assess the proper amount of compensatory damages.

The District Court granted summary judgment in American Airlines' favor on punitive damages, finding under Arkansas law that there was insufficient evidence to submit the issue to a jury to decide.

[10] The jury decided Buschmann's death occurred because the aircraft collided with illegal nonfrangible approach-light supports erected in what should have been the runway safety area.

Survivor Jeana Varnell attended the ceremony, but was quoted in a newspaper article as saying that she strongly objected to memorializing Captain Buschmann.