The Dakota was on a scheduled flight from Jersey to Southend with a stop at Portsmouth. There were 15 passengers aboard. With low cloud and drizzle in the Portsmouth/Isle of Wight area, the aircraft notified the controller that they were descending from 3,000 to 1,000 feet. The aircraft was seen flying low over Ventnor just before it crashed, fifty feet below the summit of St Boniface Down and close to a disused Royal Air Force radar site. The aircraft bounced and smashed through a ten-foot high perimeter fence of the radar site and burst into flames. Both pilots and eight of the passengers were killed instantly.