On February 4, 1996, at 14:12 local time, the plane, a 29-year-old Douglas DC-8 of the now-defunct Colombian airline Líneas Aéreas del Caribe (LAC) stalled and crashed in a neighborhood in the district of Mariano Roque Alonso, about ten kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Paraguay's capital Asunción, a few minutes after takeoff.

[2] A few minutes after takeoff, the pilot gave control of the plane to his co-pilot, a novice, and began to test the engines.

When they tried to reactivate the two engines, the pilots did not react in time, given that the aircraft had not yet gained much altitude.

[3] The plane fell to the ground, crashing into a playing field around 2 kilometers (1¼ miles) from the end of the runway in the Mariano Roque Alonso district a few minutes after takeoff.

Both the pilots and the flight engineer had reportedly expressed excessive confidence about the conditions of the surrounding environment.