The IL-14 operated on a passenger service from Tbilisi to Krasnodar with an en route stop at Kutaisi. The flight departed Tbilisi at 06:55 and climbed to the assigned cruising altitude of 2700 m. The weather was cloudy with a visibility of 4-10 km with a strong headwind of 100-120 km/h instead of the 70 km/h that was reported to the crew. The crew assumed to be over the Ali NDB at 07:21 when it was in fact 37 miles short of the NDB due to the excessive headwind. The flight was instructed to initiate descent while it was actually still over mountainous terrain. The descent was initiated until the airplane impacted the eastern slope of the Suramskogo ridge at an altitude of 980 m, 10 km south-west of the Ali NDB. The wreckage was found the next day.