At 2:12 pm, Flight 318 was cleared by the Shreveport Control Tower to make a hard right turn on approach to Runway 13.

[1] Flight 318 entered the storm at an altitude of 2,500 ft (762 m) and was immediately met with lightning, hail, heavy rain, high winds and severe turbulence.

A strong downdraft eventually forced the plane to the ground, where it ended up hitting the tree tops at a shallow angle of descent.

[1] The Douglas DC-3 involved, registered N28345 (msn 2224) was built in 1940 and had accumulated 39,000 flight hours during its 13 years of service.

A contributing factor to the crash was the captain's decision to go into the storm rather than to avoid it as it was adhered by the company's directives.