At 16:47 the flight encountered an area of severe weather including hail and requested a 180-degree right turn, which ATC immediately approved. While turning to the right in severe turbulence, the bank angle was increased to over 90 degrees, and the nose pitched down to approximately 40 degrees. As the crew attempted to recover from the ensuing steep diving turn, the aircraft experienced acceleration forces of over 4 "g", which caused the right wing to fail. The aircraft then broke up at an altitude of 6,750 feet and crashed in flames into the ground at about 16:48, killing all 85 persons on board.