The Antonov was flying peacekeepers home who were returning from the NATO mission in Kosovo. The aircraft crashed 700 meters (2,300 ft) up in the snowy, forested, Borso Hill, some 20 km (12 miles) from the Kosice. Reportedly the pilot descended prematurely over dark terrain towards the lights of Kosice. Weather at Kosice at the time of the accident (ca 19:30Z) was reported as: LZKZ 191930Z 03010KT CAVOK M06/M12 Q1023 NOSIG= [wind 030 degrees at 10 kts, no cloud below 5000ft, >10 km visibility, no significant weather (CAVOK), temperature -6C dewpoint -12C, QNH 1023hPa, no significant weather] A Commission of inquiry concluded that the probable cause was the “loss of situational and vertical orientation and non-compliance with the safety altitude.” During the transition from instrument to visual approach to the airport of Kosice, the pilots apparently did not set the radio altimeter. They “probably underestimated the height of the terrain below the aircraft and its immediate vicinity.”