On December 22, 1960, the aircraft's left engine malfunctioned shortly after takeoff, prompting an emergency landing, however before the aircraft could return to the runway, it stalled, banked left and crashed in a huge explosion about 2.5 miles from Lahug Airport, killing 26 passengers including both pilots.

[1] The aircraft was a Douglas C-47A manufactured in the United States in June 1944 and registered as 43–16127, before it was given to Philippine Air Lines and converted into a DC-3C 40-seater and re-registered as PI-C126 in 1948.

[3] Following a crew changeover, Flight S85 took off from Cebu at 03:30 PHT, and was estimated to arrive at Davao around 2 hours later.

An emergency landing was granted and while the aircraft attempted to turn back to the airport, the plane failed to gain altitude, and so it stalled, banked left and crashed in a huge explosion 2.5 miles from the runway threshold, in Talamban.

[citation needed] Investigations determined that Flight S85 crashed due to the malfunction of the left engine which led to the crash, and contributing factors involved the darkness of the night which limited the visibility during the emergency and the inappropriate emergency procedures that were carried out.