[1]: 5  The accident bore similarities to Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311, which had occurred four years earlier, and resulted in the deaths of all 23 people on board.

[1]: 6  The sole flight attendant, Robin Fech, age 37, was hired by the airline in February 1993 and had completed her last recurrent training in January 1995.

Six engineers, two deputy sheriffs, two air force personnel, a minister, and a New Orleans woman planning to become a flight attendant were also on the aircraft.

[1]: 2  At 12:43:25, while climbing through 18,100 ft, the occupants of the aircraft heard a thud, which First Officer Warmerdam later described as sounding like "a baseball bat striking an aluminum trash can.

[7] The flight crew initially tried to return to Atlanta for an emergency landing, but the rapid descent resulted in them being diverted to West Georgia Regional Airport.

The airplane was unable to stay in the air long enough and the pilots began searching for an open space to make an emergency landing, eventually settling on a field in Carroll County, Georgia, near the farming community of Burwell and the city of Carrollton.

[citation needed] The force of the final impact split the fuselage in half around the wingbox, rupturing the fuel tanks, which proved to be fatal during the evacuation of the plane.

The emergency crews (including fire chief Steve Chadwick and paramedic Joan Crawford) successfully pulled Warmerdam out of the aircraft, but Captain Gannaway had suffered fatal injuries from the impact and succumbed to his wounds shortly after.

[4] Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Deputy Charles Barton died in a hospital from injuries sustained while allowing other passengers to exit first.

[5] The probable cause of the accident was determined to be the failure of the propeller due to undiscovered metal fatigue in one blade resulting from corrosion from chlorine.

[4] The American Society of Plastic Surgeons honored his positive attitude during the long recovery with one of their "Patients of Courage: Triumph Over Adversity" awards in 2005.