What happened
The incident occurred during landing operations under conditions of significantly reduced visibility. As the aircraft was attempting to exit the active runway, the captain became disoriented regarding the aircraft's position relative to the ground infrastructure. Believing that the path ahead was a designated taxiway, the captain turned the aircraft off the paved surface and onto snow-covered terrain.
Upon realizing the error, the crew attempted to bring the aircraft to an immediate stop. However, the nose wheel collapsed after striking a snow-covered ditch before the aircraft could halt completely.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events leading to the runway excursion. Key findings indicated that the primary factor was the captain's disorientation during the low-visibility exit maneuver. The structural damage was limited to the nose landing gear, which failed upon impact with the terrain feature.