Part 6/9:
Below 500 feet, the ground proximity warning system activated with its foreboding alert of "sink rate, pull up!" The crew's response was critical but hampered by their descending situation. In attempting to manage the auto-pilot, the captain inadvertently led the aircraft into a descending spiral that resulted in it crashing down onto the ground just short of the runway.
Surprisingly, the airplane sustained structural damage but remained mostly intact, with both pilots ultimately managing to regain control and execute a go-around maneuver, although their landing gear was severely compromised. Their predicament continued to deteriorate with various indications of malfunction, including hydrodynamic losses and failures with their landing gear systems.