The aircraft failed to stop and crashed through the airport's concrete perimeter fence, struck rows of private garages and burst into flames, killing 125 people.

[2] The final report of the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was attributed to pilot error.

[6]: 10 [7][8] The ITAR-Tass news agency in Russia reported that many children were among the passengers who were flying to a holiday on Lake Baikal, near Irkutsk, about 4,200 kilometres (2,600 mi; 2,300 nmi) east of Moscow.

To correct this, they made a small elevator deflection, which momentarily increased the aircraft's vertical speed, causing the "sink rate" warning to briefly sound.

As the take-off alert appeared during Flight 778's landing roll, the crew shrugged it off, thinking that it was an error on the warning system.

[6] As the aircraft struck the perimeter fence and burst into flames, the observer gave an alarm to the airport's firefighting services on the crash.

The leaking fuel spilled under the fuselage and under the cabin floor, enabling the fire to spread rapidly throughout the entire aircraft.

Following the impact, numerous metal containers of airline meal poured onto the flight attendant who was stationed at the right rear door, burying her.

[6]: 50–53 The chaotic situation combined with the dark condition that had been caused by the smoke and the intense fire inside the cabin hindered the evacuation process.

[25] Russian state-owned media RIA Novosti reported that two Polish nationals, two Belarusians, two Germans and one Azerbaijani were being treated at a hospital in Irkutsk.

[33] Russian President Vladimir Putin offered condolences to the families and friends of the victims and ordered authorities to open an inquiry.

[35] Flags would fly at half-mast across the country and cultural institutions and television stations were called to cancel entertainment programs to commemorate the victims of the crash.

"[42] News agencies reported that the pilots advised air traffic controllers they had landed successfully, but that radio contact then broke off suddenly.

[44] Speaking before flying from Moscow to Irkutsk, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin was quoted as saying the runway was wet after rain and that a technical failure should be considered as one of the causes of the crash.

[46] In the immediate aftermath, the cause of the crash of Flight 778 was unofficially attributed to some sort of mechanical errors, with the brakes in particular as the most frequently cited and scrutinized by the media.

According to the logbook, one of the defects were the inoperable state of the left thrust reverser and failure on one of the retraction system of the aircraft's flaps.

[6]: 28–31 The investigation revealed that there were other similar aviation incidents in which an Airbus A310-300 with deactivated thrust reverser suddenly suffered significant forward motion during its landing run.

Instead of questioning the possible reasons of its activation, they immediately thought that it was a glitch and as a result they tried to erase the warning from the cockpit central monitor.

[6]: 94–107 Based on the recorded parameter of the FDR, it was evident that the thrust lever of the left engine had been accidentally moved by the crew, most likely by Captain Shibanov as the pilot flying.

While moving the right engine reverse thrust lever, it was believed that he had rested the rear part of his palm on the left throttle.

The logbook of the involved aircraft, F-OGYP, did not even indicate that any inspection or correction regarding the friction forces had ever been conducted during its entire operational history.

[6]: 69–70 After the touch down and during the deceleration stage, the crew might have experienced a specific psychological aspect which was referred by investigators as premature mental mobilization.

First Officer Chernykh immediately concluded that this must have happened due to a glitch in the system and as such he tried multiple times to erase the warning by pushing the clear and recall buttons on the ECAM.

[6]: 70–71 First Officer Chernykh, who was eager to finish the flight, then immediately called the ATC to report on their successful landing, even though the aircraft had not slowed down to the required speed for taxiing.

[6]: 103–105 Psychological tests that had been conducted on Captain Shibanov revealed that he had a tendency of being emotionally intense and unstable, with a sense of heightened self-control.

He was probably paralyzed by fear or was in so much stress that he reverted to his habits during service with his previous type, the Tupolev Tu-154, where a flight engineer was usually present in the cockpit.

The findings were noted as "peculiar" as pilots were expected to complete their first officer training on the aircraft type first before possessing the position of captain.

[6] : 64, 90, 117 Issues regarding the conversion of the cockpit crew was also discovered during analysis on the results of the psychological tests that had been conducted on Captain Shibanov.

The conversion of Captain Shibanov to Airbus A310 was regarded as "insufficiently justified" by the MAK as the result of his tests indicated that he was an emotional and anxious person and that he was prone to stress.

Medical examinations on Captain Shibanov revealed that he had been diagnosed with multiple heart problems and mental stress might have caused symptoms of the diseases to worsen.