[2]: 4–5 As the Boeing 737-300 aircraft was on approach to its destination, the pilots were confronted with substantial thunderstorm activity visible ahead and on their onboard weather radar.

About 90 seconds later, as the aircraft was descending through 19,000 ft (5,800 m), both CFM International CFM56 engines experienced a flameout, which resulted in the loss of all generated electrical power.

(During the later investigation, the NiCd battery was found to have been in poor condition due to inadequate maintenance procedures.)

The ditch procedure was successful, leaving the aircraft settled down on its belly in the shallow water, with the fuselage, wings and control surfaces largely intact.

Had the crew manipulated the radar tilt to sweep the ground during descent, they would have been aware of the risks associated with the chosen flight path.

Intense noise audible in data from the cockpit voice recorder as well as damage to the nose radome and engines indicate the presence of hail with the rain.

[2] A later Safety Recommendation letter[6] from the U.S. NTSB to the FAA notes that analyses of flight recorder data and weather satellite images indicate that the aircraft had already entered a thunderstorm cell at the start of the diversion to avoid the storm.

The letter from the NTSB also recommends to the FAA that pilots be advised to maintain a higher engine power level in moderate to severe precipitation to avoid flameout.

[8] The crash was dramatized in the 16th season of the TV series Mayday – also re-packaged as Air Disasters – in an episode entitled "River Runway".