On 17 April 1964, the flight, operated by a Sud Aviation Caravelle III crashed into the Persian Gulf about 19 km (12 mi) south–southeast of Dhahran International Airport.

The accident aircraft was a Lebanese-registered Sud Aviation Caravelle III, the only fleet in the airline, and bore the reginatration OD–AEM.

On the date of the crash, the aircraft had flown from Beirut to Ankara and back to its origin city after which some technical problems were fixed.

Two hours later, Bahrain air control approved its decent to 5,000 ft (1,500 m) over the Dhahran navigation beacon.

At 19:09, the crew informed air control it was descending from 30,000 ft (9,100 m), and by 19:26, estimated they would reach the navigation beacon in two minutes.

[3] The following morning, a United States Air Force and two airliners spotted the submerged wreckage, with the aircraft partially intact.

[6] The forward and rear fuselage separated from the main body, but was held by electrical wiring and control cables.

However, a localised high velocity vertical gust or windshear occurred in the area which could potentially caused the aircraft to descend more rapidly than usual.