The plane crashed into the sea. Though the chances of survival in such accidents are indeed higher, many conditions need to be met for that to happen.
First and foremost, the tail section of the plane must touch down before the nose, similar to a landing at the airport. Only then can the nose make contact, allowing the plane to glide across the water surface and create strong cushioning effects.
Otherwise, if the nose dives straight into the water, the plane will crash instantly, and those inside would perish due to the violent impact.
The captain of this plane apparently accomplished this maneuver successfully. The plane landed precisely in this manner.
However, since there were no landing gears for cushioning, the plane as a whole slammed into the water, which failed to produce the usual effects of an airport landing. The immense impact still caused the plane to break into three sections.
