While descending toward Dayton about 29 miles (25 nmi; 47 km) from the airport, the aircraft collided in midair with a Beechcraft Baron, a small, general-aviation airplane, near Urbana, Ohio.

Controllers testified that the zone near the crash site was one in which small planes could be difficult to detect on radar, but flight checks in the area proved inconclusive.

[1] The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident and determined that because of the DC-9's high rate of descent, its pilots were not able to see the other plane in time to avoid a collision.

[1] Enacted in 1961 in the wake of the 1960 New York mid-air collision, FAR Part 91.85 mandated speed restrictions below 10,000 feet (3,000 m) within 30 nautical miles of a destination airport.

The accident also influenced the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to create terminal control areas or TCAs (now called Class B airspace) around the busiest airports in the country.