The differential thrust, along with moving all the passengers as far forwards as possible in the cabin, pitched down the nose of the airliner and allowed the pilots to land the aircraft.

[1][6] At 23:53 PDT (19:53 UTC), the conditions were reported as 800 ft of overcast, visibility 5 miles, temperature 58°F, winds 260° at 8 knots.

As the aircraft rolled down the runway, the takeoff was described as "normal" until at 126 knots (Vr speed), the nose rotated off the ground with little to no pull on the column.

While Radford conducted an area test, McMahan unlatched and latched any switches associated with trim, and Heidt double checked the hydraulics, and check for any popped circuit breakers, and by the time the aircraft reached 3,000 ft, all procedures for jammed controls, trim, axis jam, and hydraulic malfunctions had been performed with no change in control.

The aircraft then began a pitch up maneuver, unable to be counteracted by both the first officer and the captain, climbing at about 5,000 fpm, with the airspeed decaying to below V2.

While the crew were desperately trying to push the nose down, flight attendants were gathering all the passengers and sending them to sit as far forward as possible.

The investigation found that the pressurization and depressurization of the L-1011 during multiple flight cycles had caused water to be pushed inside the left elevator aft drive quadrant (also referred to as the bell crank), heavily corroding it and causing it to become jammed during a routine control surfaces check prior to takeoff.

[2] The aircraft was repaired and continued to fly for Delta until 1985, when it was subsequently sold to American Trans Air, where it was registered as N187AT.