Board Thread:Show-Related Questions/@comment-66.61.87.196-20141115063502/@comment-26247132-20150728002658

There were multiple factors.
 * They never fully charged the drop ship because they had to launch too soon.
 * They didn't decouple from the Ark before launching, meaning all of their systems were still tied into the Ark's.
 * They probably didn't have time to go through pre-flight checklists to make sure everything was in good shape and working which, considering the age of the drop ship, is a very dangerous risk to take
 * Mount Weather was jamming their frequencies (which could affect any number of things but IIRC, they mention the navigation system specifically)
 * They came in too fast because the parachutes didn't properly deploy (which might have been caused by one or all of the above)

I actually liked how they just abruptly ended the storyline with a crash because stuff like that happens in real life all the time. Something or someone you think will have a huge impact all of a sudden doesn't.