[2] Seven minutes after takeoff, the crew requested a return to Manas airport due to a "technical reason", when they saw an indication that one of the doors was not properly locked and the cabin was not pressurized as expected.

Realizing that the speed and altitude was too high for landing, the pilot decided to execute a left 360 degree turn when they were 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from the airport.

While executing this turn, the pilot failed to monitor altitude and vertical speed and inadvertently descended, being unable to see the ground at night.

[2] The United States Air Force sent ambulances and fire apparatus with firefighters and medical personnel from its base at the airport in response to a request for assistance.

[8] The Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) attempted to retrieve data from the flight-data and cockpit voice-recorders, which were badly damaged in the fire which destroyed most of the aircraft.

The aircraft was in a 10 degree left turn, with landing gear down, flaps 15 and speed at 160 knots (300 km/h; 180 mph) when it impacted ground.

[14] The aircraft involved was first delivered on July 1, 1980, and had a total flight time of 60,014 hours, with 56,196 takeoff and landing cycles.