The flight crew consisted of Captain Vernon W. Lowell (44), an experienced pilot with 17,408 logged hours, 2,617 of those in the Boeing 707.

The aircraft began to slow down, but not as quickly as expected; Captain Lowell also had great difficulty maintaining directional control.

A prominent fatality was passenger the Most Reverend Edward Celestin Daly, OP, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States, who had just participated in Vatican Council II.

This was caused by the disconnection of a duct, resulting in a lack of pressure in the pneumatic clamshell door actuating mechanism.

This malfunction allowed the development of considerable forward thrust by number 2 engine even though the thrust levers for all four engines were in the "reverse" position, which both increased the plane's stopping distance as well as giving it a tendency to steer to the right.

[2] Despite the aircraft crew following proper procedures for a rejected take off (powering down engines and hydraulic systems) after the aircraft halted, fuel leaking from the wing tanks connected to the damaged pylon caught fire, likely due to exposed and sparking electrical wiring caused by the damage.

After being informed of the fire the crew activated the engine fire-suppression systems, but this had no effect as the fuel and flames had already spread to the point that they hindered evacuation efforts.