Flight LO 232 departed Warsaw for a flight to Moscow carrying 5 crewmembers, 8 passengers and 819 kg of mail and cargo. Due to bad weather in the area near Moscow, the flight was instructed to descend, and passed Klimentievo (75 km West of Moscow-Vnukovo Airport) at 400 m. The crew contacted Vnukovo ATC and were instructed to descend to 300 m. A little later, at 23:07, the flight was cleared for an instrument approach. The flight crew acknowledged this, but failed to adhere to the prescribed procedure. The aircraft descended below safe altitude and struck the ground. Weather in the area was: very low ceiling, heavy turbulence, distant lightning and driving rain. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The aircraft hit the ground while flying at an excessively low altitude following the crew’s application of an approach procedure other than that prescribed by Vnukovo aerodrome. The bad weather conditions which set in during the night and were not forecast in the messages had their influence on the disastrous end of the flight.”