Flight 141 was flown by 3X-GDO, an ex-American Airlines Boeing 727-223, on the day of the crash. The airliner's route was Conakry International Airport – Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport – Kufra Airport – Beirut International Airport – Dubai International Airport. Many of the passengers were workers who were flying back home to Lebanon to enjoy the holidays with their families.

On takeoff from Cotonou, the aircraft ran off the end of the runway, impacting several ground structures including an occupied outbuilding and crashed on the ocean beach because it was overloaded with passengers and cargo and the aircraft's center of gravity was further forward than the crew realised.

The Government of Benin established a National Commission of Inquiry to investigate the accident, as outlined by Decree No 2003-563 of 26 December 2003. The commission's president established Order No 3451/MDN/DC/SA of 30 December 2003, which gave the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA), the aviation investigation agency of France, the responsibility of conducting the technical investigation. The BEA wrote the original accident report and translated the report into English.

Exact passenger numbers are impossible to determine, as it is thought that there were more passengers aboard than were listed on the manifest.

Some passengers who survived the initial crash died while being hospitalised.

This was the 100th aviation accident involving the Boeing 727.