Immediately after becoming airborne, Flight 5481's nose began to rapidly pitch up. By the time it reached an altitude of 90 feet above ground level (AGL), the plane's nose had pitched up 20 degrees. Despite both pilots trying forcefully to push the nose down, the plane continued to pitch nose-up, reaching a maximum of 54 degrees of pitch. The aircraft's stall warning horn sounded, and the pilots declared an emergency to air traffic controllers. After climbing to an altitude of 1,150 feet AGL, the plane stalled, abruptly pitching down into an uncontrollable descent. Approximately 35 seconds after taking off, Flight 5481 crashed into an aircraft maintenance hangar and burst into flames.