The Southwest Airlines plane whose nose gear collapsed while landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport touched down nose-first, federal investigators announced Thursday.


The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates crashes, had earlier said that the Boeing 737-700's nose gear punched up into the jet's electronics bay in the crash Monday.


Planes typically touch down first with the main landing gear beneath the wings, before having the nose settle. Investigators said the plane's nose was still pitched upward slightly — 2 degrees — four seconds before landing, but then touched down while pitched downward 3 degrees.


Ten people were injured when the plane skidded 2,175 feet along the runway before coming to rest in a grassy area. The accident temporarily closed the airport and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.


Investigators are reviewing the data and cockpit voice recorder to see what happened during those final moments of the flight. The data recorder tracked information on 1,000 elements of the flight and the two hours of voice recording captures the entire flight from Nashville, investigators said.