What happened
During a nighttime approach into Mahón Airport under conditions of low visibility, the flight crew encountered difficulties maintaining visual contact with the runway. In response to the degraded weather, the captain issued an order to perform a go-around. However, due to a misunderstanding of these instructions, the aircraft continued its descent along the final approach path.
The descent concluded when the aircraft impacted the runway surface, experiencing a vertical acceleration of 3.56 G. Following the impact, the captain assumed control of the flight and successfully executed a go-around procedure. The crew subsequently diverted the flight to Palma de Mallorca, where the aircraft landed without further incident.
While all 89 occupants were able to evacuate the plane safely, the impact caused extensive structural damage to the airframe. Consequently, the aircraft was declared a total loss.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified that the pilot-in-command failed to correctly interpret the captain's command to abort the landing. This failure was attributed to the use of non-standard phraseology by the captain during the critical approach phase. Additionally, investigators noted that inadequate crew coordination and the lack of visual references due to poor weather were contributing factors to the event.