The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the aircraft 's encounter with microburst-induced wind shear during the liftoff , which imposed a downdraft and a decreasing headwind , the effects of which the pilot would have had difficulty recognizing and reacting to in time for the aircraft 's descent to be stopped before its impact with trees . Contributing to the accident was the limited capability of then current wind shear detection technology . The investigation noted the failure of the US Government to " put out proper weather information that day and to maintain wind shear detection devices at the airport . " '' The New York Times '' reported that : According to witnesses , a wind shear alert was mentioned on New Orleans Airport radio frequencies on July 9 , before Flight 759 took off . But the flight crew had been briefed with a recorded weather advisory that was two hours old , though airport routine is for hourly recordings of weather information . There were no procedures at the airport for advising flight crews that updated weather announcements were available . As a result , millions of dollars were paid out as compensation to various families affected by the crash . Flight 759 , along with Delta Air Lines Flight 191 which crashed due to similar circumstances three years later , led to the development of the Airborne wind shear detection and alert system and the Federal Aviation Administration mandate to install windshear detection systems at airports and on board aircraft in the U.S. by 1993
Delta Air Lines Flight 191
Delta Air Lines Flight 191
Pan Am Flight 759