The aircraft (named Anthony Nesty in honor of the Olympic swimmer)[1][2] was a four-engined McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 passenger jet which had first flown in 1969[1] as part of the air fleet of Braniff International Airways.

[clarification needed][1] A group of Surinamese football players playing professionally in the Netherlands and organized as an exhibition team known as the Colourful 11 (in Dutch Kleurrijk Elftal) were among the dead.

[6] The team was an initiative of Dutch Surinamese social worker Sonny Hasnoe who worked with underprivileged children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Amsterdam.

He encouraged young boys to join football clubs and noted an improvement in their behaviour when they were playing sports as it gave them an opportunity to interact with their white contemporaries and so helped speed up the process of social integration.

The Colourful 11 were to play a match in Suriname in June 1989, however a number of players were denied permission to travel by their Dutch professional clubs.

[7] Among the players who stayed back as a result were Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Aron Winter, Bryan Roy, Stanley Menzo, Dean Gorre, Jos Luhukay and Regi Blinker.

[9] Former Ajax players and Dutch internationals Henny Meijer and Stanley Menzo – who ignored his club's decree and went to Suriname on his own accord – had taken an earlier flight and were spared the fate of their teammates.

[9] [8] In 2005, Dutch journalist Iwan Tol released his book about this lost generation of Surinamese players called: Eindbestemming Zanderij.

The crew ignored these warnings and also descended below the minimum altitude allowed for both the VOR/DME and ILS approaches without positive visual contact with the runway.

[2] The "probable cause" paragraph from the report reads as follows: The Commission determines: a) That as a result of the captain's glaring carelessness and recklessness the aircraft was flown below the published minimum altitudes during the approach and consequently collided with a tree.

b) As underlying factor in the accident was the failure of SLM's (Surinam Airways) operational management to observe the pertinent regulations as well as the procedures prescribed in the SLM Operations Manual concerning qualification and certification during recruitment and employment of the crew members furnished by ACI.Even though the accident was not under U.S. jurisdiction, the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) was actively involved in the investigation because the aircraft was U.S.-registered.