In its 21 years of service, the aircraft had logged approximately 53,917 airframe hours and 63,147 takeoff and landing cycles.

The crew consisted of Captain Michael R. Greenlee (38), First Officer James P. "Phil" Hayes (41),[a] and three flight attendants.

Captain Greenlee asked the controller for a weather report from the plane ahead of Flight 1016, a Fokker 100 that had just landed on 18R.

[1]: 5  About a minute later, as Flight 1016 was on final approach, the captain, realizing that his aircraft was in a serious predicament, attempted to abort the landing by instructing the first officer to "take it around, go to the right."

The plane broke into four major sections, and the front 40 feet (12 m), including the cockpit and the unoccupied first class passenger cabin, came to rest in the middle of Wallace Neel Road.

[1]: 8 The airport's previous major incident occurred on September 11, 1974, when Eastern Air Lines Flight 212, also a DC-9, crashed during approach, killing 72.

[1]: 33  After a lengthy investigation, the NTSB concluded that a microburst generated by the thunderstorm over the airport at the time of the crash was the probable cause of the accident.