First Officer Louis Fernandez (25) was hired in 1984, and had accumulated approximately 3,000 of flying time, including 500 hours in the EMB 110.

The horizontal stabilizer, elevators, tail cone assembly, and part of the ventral fin separated from the aircraft while in flight.

The NTSB found the horizontal stabilizer had separated from the EMB 110 in one piece, landing 1,100 feet short of the primary crash site.

[3]: 9  As a result, the NTSB's investigation and analysis focused substantially on determining the sequence of, and the reasons for, the structural separations.

At the time of the Flight 1039 accident, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require installation of CVRs/FDRs on multi-engine turboprop passenger aircraft, but no such rule was finalized yet.

[3]: 40  The NTSB concluded that "installation of an FDR and CVR would have provided significant clues regarding the cause of this accident and remedied action needed to prevent recurrence.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board.