Under clear skies, at about 10:00 Brussels time (CET; 09:00 UTC), the Boeing 707 was on a long approach to Runway 20 when, near the runway threshold and at a height of , power was increased and the landing gear retracted. The airplane had been forced to cancel its final approach to Brussels airport, as a small plane had not yet cleared the runway. The 707 circled the airport and made another attempt to land on adjoining Runway 25, which was not operational; this second approach was also aborted. It became clear to observers that the pilots were fighting for control of the aircraft, making a desperate attempt to land despite the fact that a mechanical malfunction was preventing them from making a normal landing. The plane circled the airfield three times altogether, during which the bank angle gradually increased until the aircraft had climbed to and was in a near vertical bank. It then leveled its wings, pitched up abruptly, lost speed and spiralled rapidly nose down, plunging into the ground less than two miles (3 km) from the airport, at 10:05 CET (09:05 UTC).