Some 15 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft lost power in one of its engines, which prompted the crew to return to the airport for an emergency landing.

In doing so, the pilots missed the airport runway, and the airplane descended until it hit the ground, disintegrating after impact.

[2] Powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7 engines, it had its maiden flight on 29 August 1975, and was delivered new to Sudan Airways on 15 September 1975.

[5] Captain Jaber radioed about ten minutes after take-off about a problem with one of the engines, and that he would return to the airport to make an emergency landing.

[5][11][12][13][14][15][excessive citations] Then-Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail raised the trade embargo imposed by the U.S. government in 1997 as a contributing factor to the accident, claiming the airline was unable to get spare parts for the maintenance of its fleet because of sanctions.