What happened
While attempting to land at Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport under poor weather conditions, the flight crew performed a go-around. During the subsequent second approach, air traffic control notified the crew that the aircraft was approximately 15 meters below the established glide path when it was 5 km from the threshold of runway 07. Shortly after this notification, the aircraft entered a sudden nose-down attitude and crashed 4,330 meters before reaching the runway. The impact caused a massive explosion and the total disintegration of the plane. There were 25 fatalities among the occupants.
Findings
An investigation into the accident identified several contributing factors that led to the loss of control. Investigators determined that ice accumulation on the stabilizer, likely caused by a failure in the leading-edge heating system, played a critical role. In an attempt to correct the deviation from the glide path, the crew executed a maneuver that resulted in negative g-loading. This situation was further complicated when the flaps were extended to the full landing configuration, which disrupted airflow over the lower surface of the stabilizer. This disruption increased the forces on the control column, intensifying the nose-down pitch and making it impossible for the crew to recover the aircraft from the dive.