A minor correction to the above post with respect to the flaps. The preliminary report mentions (in German): ‘Es wurde festgestellt, dass das Fahrwerk und die Landeklappen zum Unfallzeitpunkt eingefahren waren.’. Translation: ‘It was established that the landing gear and the flaps were not extended at the time of the accident.‘ This very clear statement in my opinion discredits the earlier disclosure about a blocked flap.
One message recorded by the EEC included ‘De-icing ON’. So one could think that the crew did the correct things in the prevailing conditions.
The report shows radar tracks until a few seconds before the plane impacted the ground. The steep descent happened after the aircraft had veered off the approach course by 60 or 70 degrees to the right for 1NM, after overshooting the LOC to the left. Then the descent became shallower indeed. The elevation at the crash site is approximately 2300 AMSL. I am not sure if there was a recovery, or the height or time for it. The report mentioned as a peculiarity that a number of larger debris was found inverted along the crash path: LH wing on the right and vice versa. Surprisingly the path is in a 240 degree direction again.
The other day I watched a FAA instructional video on tailplane icing: NBX84bF2d4U on YouTube. I just can’t help connecting the two things.