As the X-15 climbed, Adams began a planned wing-rocking (rolling) maneuver so an on-board camera could scan the horizon.

As Adams came over the top, the drift briefly halted as the aircraft's nose yawed 15 degrees back to the correct attitude.

Then the drift to the left began again; within 30 seconds, Adams's descending flight path was at right angles to the attitude of the aircraft.

However, due to high gain in the adaptive control system, the X-15 went into limit-cycle oscillations with rapid pitching motion of increasing severity, still in a dive at 49,000 m (160,000 ft) per minute.

The weekend after the accident, an unofficial NASA Flight Research Center (FRC) search party found the camera, but could not find the film cartridge.

FRC engineer Victor W. Horton organized a search and on November 29, during the first pass over the area, Willard E. Dives found the cassette.

[3] The electrical disturbance early in the flight degraded the overall effectiveness of the aircraft's control system and further added to pilot workload.