What happened
During the landing phase of the flight, the aircraft experienced an unusually heavy touchdown. Following the initial contact with the runway, the airframe underwent three distinct bounces. During the third impact, the aircraft was subjected to a significant aerodynamic force of 5.8 g.
This intense physical stress caused the structural integrity of the fuselage to fail, resulting in the aircraft breaking into two separate pieces between sections 737 and 756. Despite the severity of the breakup, all five crew members were able to evacuate the wreckage without sustaining any injuries. The aircraft was subsequently declared a total loss.
Findings
- The primary factor in the structural failure was the high-magnitude force of 5.8 g experienced during the third bounce of the landing sequence.