1 engine during the climb phase, causing the aircraft to enter an aerodynamic stall, uncontrolled dive, and in-flight breakup, killing all 213 passengers and ten crew members on board.

At 23:08, Welch and Thurner received a visual warning indication on the EICAS display that a possible system failure would cause the thrust reverser on the No.

1 engine reverser deployed while the plane was over mountainous jungle terrain in the border area between the Suphan Buri and Uthai Thani provinces in Thailand.

The CVR recorded master caution warning and a second snapping sound, followed by various alerts such as overspeed and a second master caution, and Welch's last recorded words: "Jesus Christ" in response to the rapid rolling sensation, "here, wait a minute" as he brought engine 1's thrust lever to idle and shut down the engine and finally, "damn it".

Maneuvering overloads produced by the pilots' sustained attempts to regain pitch control, in combination with the increasing velocity of the dive, had exceeded the aircraft's structural limits and destroyed the weakened aft fuselage along with the rest of the damaged flight surfaces.

The wings then experienced structural failure and separated at the trailing edges, engulfing the remains of the falling aircraft in flames before impacting mountainous wooded terrain and exploding.

[13] Most of the wreckage was scattered over a remote forest area roughly 1 square kilometre (0.39 sq mi) in size, at an elevation of 600 m (2,000 ft), in what is now Phu Toei National Park, Suphan Buri.

[15] Volunteer rescue teams and local villagers looted the wreckage, taking electronics and jewellery,[16] so relatives were unable to recover personal possessions.

However, a terrorist motive was believed unlikely, as Austria was politically neutral with a reputation of avoiding international conflicts such as the recent Gulf War.

Thailand's Air Safety Division head Pradit Hoprasatsuk stated that "the attempt to determine why the reverser came on was hampered by the loss of the flight data recorder, which was destroyed in the crash".

[4][24] Aviation writer Macarthur Job has stated that "had that Boeing 767 been of an earlier version of the type, fitted with engines that were controlled mechanically rather than electronically, then that accident could not have happened".

Lauda asked for a press conference the following day and told Boeing that if it was possible to recover, he would be willing to fly a 767 with two pilots and have the thrust reverser deploy in air.

Lauda then added that "this was the first time in eight months that it had been made clear that the manufacturer [Boeing] was at fault and not the operator of the aeroplane [or Pratt and Whitney]".

[30][31] Other nationalities included 52 Hong Kong residents,[31][32] 39 Thai, 10 Italians, 7 Swiss, 6 Chinese, 4 Germans, 3 Portuguese, 3 Taiwanese, 3 Yugoslavs, 2 Hungarians, 2 Filipinos, 2 Britons, 3 Americans (two passengers and the captain), 1 Australian, 1 Brazilian, 1 Pole and 1 Turk.

[42] Another memorial and cemetery is located at Wat Sa Kaeo Srisanpetch, about 90 kilometres (56 mi; 49 nmi) away in Mueang Suphan Buri district.

[43] The crash of Flight 004 was featured in an edition of ITV's The Cook Report entitled "Don't Shoot the Pilot" in 1993 & in the second episode of Season 14 of the Canadian documentary television series Mayday, titled "Testing the Limits".