It was the second fall for Andersson, who went over her skis head first, breaking the binding on one ski and ended up dropping from first to eighth on her leg, before Jonna Sundling got Sweden back into medal contention, eventually taking silver behind Norway.
Conditions on the course in Tesero were difficult, and Andersson appeared to lose her nerve on a tricky downhill section.
"I was a bit cowardly on the downhill and then a second later I did a somersault. It was a bit of a crisis and panic," she told Swedish television.
Sadly, there was no doubt that the falls cost Sweden the chance to maintain their run of winning all the women's cross-country golds at Milan-Cortina 2026, "It wasn't what I had envisioned. And of course it's incredibly sad to drag your teammates into it."
"Unfortunately, I can't do that today. It hurts my heart," she said of how she was unable to contribute to the team effort as she wanted.
"The body is okay, but the heart isn't. Days like today, you just want to forget everything and go home," said the 28-year-old, who now has three silver medals at these Olympic Games.
Despite Andersson taking responsibility, her teammates are standing by her, "What Ebba feels, the whole team feels. We are in this together. And I think the way we all - including Ebba - are handling and stitching the situation together is good," said Frida Karlsson, who handed over to Andersson in the race.
Andersson also received support from Sweden's King Carl Gustaf. On a video call with the team, the monarch praised the team's work ethic and made a light-hearted remark on the fall.
"It shows the fighting spirit that you have. And Ebba, fantastic! What a scoundrel! I've never seen a cross-country skier fly through the air like that. It was amazing!" said the King, causing the skiiers to laugh.