What happened
During a cargo operation traveling from Panama City toward São Paulo, an aircraft was performing an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach into Ponta Pelada AFB. During this phase of flight, the plane was not correctly aligned with the runway centerline and maintained an altitude above the required glide path.
In an attempt to correct the flight path, the captain performed an overcorrection that resulted in a significant increase in the sink rate. As the aircraft descended in a nose-down attitude, the nose landing gear made contact with a concrete wall situated approximately 12 meters before the runway threshold. The impact caused the nose gear to be detached from the airframe.
Following the loss of the gear, the plane impacted the runway on its nose and continued to slide for roughly 300 meters before coming to a complete stop. While the aircraft sustained damage that rendered it a total loss, all three crew members were able to exit the wreckage without any injuries.
Findings
Investigations into the incident concluded that the primary factor was an incorrect approach configuration executed by the pilot-in-command.