Marsh Hawk asked: how instrumental was the muddy field in increasing the survivability of this accident? It seems to me that the yielding dirt cushioned the vertical forces just enough to make this accident survivable for most
I remember some tests done by US Authorities years ago using actual airframes which determined that - contrary to what one might think - impact on soft ground results in higher G forces as the aircraft tends to dig in and stop; on hard surfaces the aircraft tends to slide. I don't think this is particularly relevent in this case, however, just giving an answer to a query.