The first officer was 27-year-old Daniel D'Ambrosio, who had been with East Coast Jets for less than a year and had previously worked for Colgan Air but quit during training due to an unexpected transfer of location.

[7] The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators concluded that the aircraft crashed due to a failed go-around.

The NTSB cited the pilots' error in attempting a go-around as the primary cause of the accident,[1]: 89  concluding that the aircraft would have come to rest within the runway safety margins.

[8][9] In the NTSB's final report, it states the following: The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the captain's decision to attempt a go-around late in the landing roll with insufficient runway remaining.

Contributing to the accident were, 1, the pilots' poor crew coordination and lack of cockpit discipline; 2, fatigue, which likely impaired both pilots' performance; and 3, the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration to require crew resource management training and standard operating procedures for Part 135 operators.

[6] Wrongful death actions were filed on behalf of the passengers' families and were settled around the same time as the NTSB's report.