Originally Posted by
pilotmike
They are armed by removing a pin, then activated by a finger operated trigger.
On this occasion, I must believe they were unlikely to have been triggered deliberately, unless as a last ditch cushioning effort, which I doubt.
However, as they have a limiting speed, possibly it could have been an inadvertent triggering that could have been causal..... though of course that is pure speculation; I know nothing whatsoever about this incident.
I have to say, a last-ditch attempt at using them as cushioning airbags would be a smart - if unconventional - reaction to the looming ground!