The secondary radio (VHF2) remained operative and the crew were able to restore communication with air traffic control (ATC) and made a pan-pan call on the emergency frequency.

As he reduced the thrust to idle for the flare, the captain made several large, alternating sidestick inputs, causing the pitch to vary between +6 and −2 degrees.

The captain attempted to apply maximum reverse thrust while he continued to hold the sidestick in the fully forward position.

The second touchdown occurred two seconds after the first, nose-first, at a speed of 155 knots (287 km/h; 178 mph) and with a vertical load of 5.85 g. The main landing gear weak links sheared – the weak links are designed to shear under heavy load to minimise damage to the wing – allowing the gear legs to "move up and backwards" and the wing remained intact.

The thrust levers were advanced to take-off power – the reverser doors began to close – and the sidestick was pulled full aft in a possible attempt to go around.

The aircraft slid down the runway, veered to the left and came to a standstill on the grass between two runway-adjoining taxiways with the nose facing upwind at 15:30 UTC.

The captain, 42-year-old Denis Yevdokimov, (Russian: Денис Йевдокимов) held an airline transport pilot licence and had 6,844 flying hours, including 1,570 on the Superjet.

The 36-year-old first officer Maksim Kuznetsov joined Aeroflot in 2017, held a commercial pilot licence and had 773 hours of flying experience, including 623 on the Superjet.

[16] On 30 May, TASS reported IAC expert Vladimir Kofman was attending the Transport Security Forum where he said that "the disaster occurred because of [the] hard touchdowns".

His comment evoked a sharp response from Aeroflot and the IAC issued a six-point press release distancing itself from Kofman.

The IAC asked news media to provide video or audio evidence of "published statements made by Kofman".

[21] Investigators found traces of lightning impact on antennae, various sensors, exit lights and the cockpit windows.

The report cited a material provided by Sukhoi claiming that contemporary certification requirements did not consider the effect of "secondary impacts of the airframe on the ground after the destruction of the landing gear".

[8] In May 2022, in a status update marking the third anniversary of the accident, the IAC noted that it expected to issue the draft final report shortly.

The Investigative Committee said on 6 May 2019 it was considering insufficient skill of the pilots, dispatchers and those who performed the technical inspection of the plane, along with mechanical problems and poor weather, as a possible cause of the accident.

[23] A high-ranking law enforcement source told Lenta.ru that experts would examine the actions of Sheremetyevo's fire and rescue service.

According to a spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee, his actions "violated the existing regulations and led to the destruction and outbreak of fire".

[27][28][4][29] According to TASS, citing a law enforcement source, the majority of passengers in the tail end of the aircraft had practically no chance of rescue; many of them did not have time to unfasten their seat belts.

[30] Speculation that the observed retrieval of luggage caused an evacuation delay was rejected by one anonymous[failed verification] witness.

Aeroflot said the flaps were properly configured for landing and that the spoilers should be extended manually only when reverse thrust is applied and the aircraft has settled on the runway.

On 8 May, it had collected over 140,000 signatures and, when asked, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said the decision should be taken by the competent aviation authorities and not by citizens who sign petitions on the Change.org portal.

Kommersant cited industry sources as saying the SSJ100 had lower dispatch reliability than Airbus and Boeing aircraft in the airline's fleet historically and attributed a rise in cancellations to "increased safety measures" at Aeroflot while the accident is investigated.

On 18 May 2019, an Aeroflot SSJ100 from Ulyanovsk to Moscow–Sheremetyevo aborted its take-off due to a hydraulics failure indication following which the passengers refused to fly on the Superjet.

The letter said the flight control system, engines, cabin protection from an external fire and the crew training programme should all be examined for compliance.