[1][2] The following investigation by the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee found that at the time of the accident the aircraft was flying in cloud, and the crew lost visual contact with the ground.

At about 0050 UTC, the aircraft was last observed on the radar screen at a position about 35 nm from MDN VOR.

At about 0120 UTC, a Cessna Caravan operated by Susi Air flew from Kuta Cane to Medan and reported that the weather was Visual Meteorological Condition (VMC) and the wind was calm.

At about 0150 UTC, Medan Airport authority received information from the search and rescue office in Jakarta that an emergency locator transmitter signal had been detected.

They found the wreckage on a 70° slope at 5,055 feet altitude in the Mount Leuser National Park, 16 nm from Kuta Cane.

[4][5] From analysis of the cockpit voice recorder, the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) concluded that the crew elected to continue flying into weather that was below VFR minima – that is, the minimum visibility and distance from cloud required to fly in accordance with visual flight rules, as the accident flight had planned to do.

The NTSC was satisfied that such measures were adequate, but issued further safety recommendations to the Indonesian Directorate General Civil Aviation to improve supervision of operators and the provision of CFIT and ALAR training to pilots.