While it is established by investigation that the direct reason for the crash was stalling shortly after takeoff, the Soviet Accident Investigation Committee noted the possibility of accidental deployment of the spoilers and reduced thrust due to engine problems as the cause for this accident.

At 7:51 PM Moscow time (1:51 AM, Nov 29 for Tokyo time), the flight took off from Sheremetyevo, reached an altitude of 100 metres (330 ft), stalled, and crashed 150 metres (490 ft) beyond the runway end, 30 seconds after leaving the ground.

The aircraft involved, JA8040, was delivered in July 1969, and written off less than 3.5 years after its delivery, thus being the most short-lived among Japan Airlines' DC-8s.

The Soviet Accident Investigation Committee released (according to ICAO standard) the result of CVR and FDR data analysis.

70s (Sound of impact)The survivors reported three abnormal situations indicating an engine failure, which matched the description of eyewitnesses on the ground: The direct reason for the crash was an excessive nose-up attitude leading to a stall.

The cause was determined to be one of the following by both sides (Japanese and Soviet investigating personnel): Based on the above, the sequence of the entire accident could be presumed (but not determined) that: There was a theory that the copilot mistook the ground spoiler lever as the landing gear lever, but it is only a theory.

In the popular comic strip Sazae-san, Machiko Hasegawa made a sarcastic scene, referring to these accidents: While preparing for a business trip, Namihei panicked when he heard Sazae and Wakame talking about "Nikkō 'falling' again", and rushed toward them.

Few methods can be used to reduce speed in flight (e.g. before landing), such as deploying the thrust reverser of inner engines on both port and starboard side.

As a result, modifications were done to make ground spoilers unable to deploy in flight altogether.