All three crew-members and 20 of the 31 passengers were killed, among them Gordon Dean, former chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

[1][2] The accident aircraft, a Convair 240 operated by Northeast Airlines, commenced a non-precision VOR approach to the uncontrolled airport despite the fact that visibility, at one-eighth of a mile (0.20 km) in fog, was below the legal minimum required for such an approach.

The aircraft flew into the ground one-third of a mile (0.54 km) short of the Runway 24 threshold and some 600 feet (180 m) to the right of the extended center-line.

[4][5] A Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigation found that the captain of the aircraft failed to acknowledge transmissions warning him of the deteriorating weather conditions in the minutes before the crash.

The CAB also criticised Northeast's training and operational procedures, noting deficiencies in aircrew proficiency, recordkeeping and monitoring of company radio frequencies.