The Dash 8 returned to Wilson Airport and landed safely with part of the deicing boot missing, and with all 44 aboard unharmed, but the Cessna spun out of control and crashed in the national park, killing both occupants.

The aircraft was manufactured by Bombardier Aviation on 28 September 2001 and in its 22 years of service, it had accumulated around 32,000 flight hours in around 35,000 cycles,[a] and was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123E engines.

Cessna 5Y-NNJ completed the manoeuvre and the Wilson tower controller cleared Flight 053 for takeoff and issued a traffic advisory to other pilots in the vicinity that an aircraft was taking off from runway 14.

Approach control approved the request, and the pilots contacted the Wilson tower and landed safely in the opposite direction on the same runway.

Shortly after the collision, the Cessna crashed into the grounds of the Nairobi National Park near the airport, killing both pilots on board.

The main wreckage was found to the right of the extended centreline of runway 14, 1.663 nmi (3.080 km; 1.914 mi) inside the national park.

Several subassemblies of the Cessna, including pieces of the horizontal stabilizers were separated from the fuselage and were found within 112.5 m (369 ft) of the main wreckage site.