What happened
A non-scheduled international flight departed from Malaga, Spain, at 07:33 GMT, destined for Tangier, Morocco, with a planned return trip. While weather conditions remained favorable until reaching the vicinity of Gibraltar, the aircraft encountered visibility and meteorological conditions that fell below standard minimums northwest of Tangier.
The crew established contact with the Tangier control tower at 07:55, providing an estimated arrival time of 08:05. During these communications, the flight crew received weather observations from 07:20. At 07:58, air traffic controllers notified the crew that the Tangier VOR was out of service and requested that the aircraft report at an altitude of 2,500 feet over the TW locator or when the field was in sight. By 08:02, the crew had been updated with the 07:50 weather observation along with the latest pressure settings (QNH 1,024 mb and QFE 1,022 mb), which they acknowledged at 08:03.
Following this acknowledgment, all further attempts by Tangier control to contact the aircraft went unanswered. Investigations later determined that the aircraft had impacted the sea at roughly 08:04, about 10 nautical miles from the Moroccan coastline. The accident resulted in 50 fatalities and the rescue of three passengers.
Findings
Official investigations concluded that the aircraft experienced an aerodynamic stall at an altitude that left the crew with insufficient time to recover the flight.