The aircraft crashed a few minutes after takeoff, and all 44 passengers and six crew on board were killed.

The flight crew subsequently lost control and crashed near the town of Balad.

All 50 people on board were killed,[2] the most fatalities in a single aircraft crash within Somali airspace.

[3] The crash investigation determined that the aircraft had entered a spiral dive after encountering strong vertical gusts.

Loads during the dive increased to approximately 5.76 g, exceeding the design stress limits of the Fokker F27 type and causing its right wing to separate.