The aircraft, a BAC One-Eleven, struck a mango tree on the hill in sitio Kulaike, Antipolo, Rizal, located 22 km (12 nmi) east of its destination while on a VOR approach to runway 24.

[1] It was the deadliest aviation accident in the Philippines involving commercial aircraft until the crash of Philippine Airlines Flight 206 in 1987 and the deadliest involving a BAC One-Eleven until it was surpassed by Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 9 in 1977.

It was the first One-Eleven to be delivered to Philippine Air Lines, arriving the same year.

The aircraft had over 7,000 airframe hours and 6,445 flight cycles at the time of the crash.

[3][4] The aircraft crashed due to high turbulence in a heavy rainstorm along with poor visibility at night.