On 27 February 2001, the Short 360 operating the flight ditched then crashed in the Firth of Forth off Edinburgh at around 17:30 local time; the two crewmembers' bodies were found in the wreckage a few hours after the accident.

[4]: 4 [5] The crew consisted of 58-year-old Carl Mason from Ayr, holding a valid Airline Transport Pilot's licence and with 13,569 hours' flying experience, as the captain.

As the first officer radioed a Mayday call on the Air traffic control frequency, the pilot initiated a descent with a reduced airspeed of 110 kt while turning right towards the coast.

The Short 360 was eventually salvaged with some difficulty, and was dismantled before it was transported to Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) headquarters at Farnborough for a detailed examination.

[3]: 27 Upon investigation, it was concluded that the accident had been caused primarily by the lack of an established practical procedure for flight crews to install engine air intake covers in adverse weather conditions.

The aircraft landed at Edinburgh Airport, Scotland, at midnight in snow conditions and was then parked heading directly into moderate to strong surface winds for approximately 17 hours.

The AAIB discovered that large volumes of snow or slush could have accumulated where it would not have been readily visible to the crew during a pre-flight inspection (the engine intakes on a Short 360 are about 2.8 m (9 ft) above the ground[8]: 16 ).