[1] Flown with a Boeing 727-200, the flight crashed into a mountain at 7:30 A.M. local time after the pilots failed to follow a special landing procedure required for the arrival to the airport.

While 20 passengers initially survived, five died before treatment, due to a delay in rescue personnel because of bad weather.

[3] It remains, as of 2025, the worst aviation accident on Honduran soil and in Central America at large;[4] it is also the 15th deadliest involving a Boeing 727.

[6] The crew began a continuous descent from about 7,600 feet (2,300 m) MSL at about 11 nautical miles (13 mi; 20 km) from the airport, rather than following the prescribed step-down procedure, which led to the accident site.

The first part (cockpit, first class), contained almost all of the survivors of the accident,[9] due to the close-to-stall, nose high configuration at impact.

While the National Transportation Safety Board and the Civil Aviation Authority of Honduras were investigating the crash, the three pilots Argueta, Canales and Figueroa were charged with manslaughter and negligence and went to trial.

[13] While the actions were initially filed in the Circuit Court of Dade County, Florida, the case would be decided under Nicaraguan law.