What happened
On the night of the accident, the crew of Eastern Flight 573 contacted approach control to begin their arrival. The controllers provided vectors to avoid inclement weather and instructed the aircraft to prepare for an ILS runway 16 approach. During the sequence, air traffic control notified the flight crew that the glide slope (g/s) signal had entered an alarm state, though the localizer appeared functional. Due to the unavailability of the BC approach to runway 34, the crew proceeded with the runway 16 approach using 50 degrees of flaps.
The aircraft descended through clouds and rain, encountering light turbulence during the final phase of flight. At approximately 900 feet, the aircraft emerged from the cloud layer. As the plane approached the runway, the first officer observed that the aircraft was flying too high. In response, the captain pushed the nose down and reduced engine power, which led to an increase in both airspeed and the rate of descent. During this period, the required altitude callouts were not performed by the crew.
As the aircraft neared the ground, the first officer instructed the captain to flare; however, the maneuver was insufficient. The Boeing 767 made a heavy impact with the runway, causing the fuselage to break apart between stations 813 and 756. The aircraft eventually came to a stop with its tail resting on the runway surface. During the subsequent evacuation, four passengers sustained minor injuries.
Findings
The investigation determined that the primary factor was the captain's failure to manage the descent rate or initiate a missed approach, which led to a touchdown exceeding the structural design limits of the aircraft. Additionally, the crew failed to monitor flight instruments effectively and neglected to provide necessary altitude callouts during the approach.