Incident Overview

Date: Friday 24 January 1969
Aircraft Type: Antonov An-24V
Owner/operator: LOT Polskie Linie Lotnicze
Registration Number: SP-LTE
Location: 3,5 km from Wroclaw-Strachowice Airport (WRO) – ÿ Poland
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 48
Component Affected: The aircraft’s wings.The aircraft’s wings.
Category: Accident
On 16:35, an Antonov aircraft departed for Wroclaw. Visibility deteriorated to 800 m, prompting the pilot to continue the approach, eventually reaching 400 m. The aircraft then struck treetops at a height of 10 m, resulting in a bank of 40 degrees to the right. The aircraft subsequently struck power lines, railway cables, and slid on the ground.On 16:35, an Antonov aircraft departed for Wroclaw. Visibility deteriorated to 800 m, prompting the pilot to continue the approach, eventually reaching 400 m. The aircraft then struck treetops at a height of 10 m, resulting in a bank of 40 degrees to the right. The aircraft subsequently struck power lines, railway cables, and slid on the ground.

Description

The Antonov took off at 16:35 for a flight to Wroclaw. After passing the NDB, the flight was now descending towards the Outer Marker, Wroclaw Control Zone warned that the visibility had deteriorated to 800 m (minimum = 1100 m). The approach was continued and the aircraft passed the Outer Marker at 50-60 m (instead of 225 m). The pilot was then advised that the visibility had further deteriorated to 400 m, but he still continued. At a height of 10 m (700 m past the Outer Marker) the wings struck treetops. Part of the right wing broke off and the aircraft banked 40deg to the right. The Antonov struck two 30.000 Volt power lines, electric traction cables of a railway and slid on the ground, coming to rest on a road. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The accident was attributed to the decision of the pilot in command to carry out an approach in weather conditions below the minimum limits prescribed for Wroclaw Airport and his non-observance of the prescribed altitude over the outer radio beacon while performing the approach procedure. The accident was the pilot-in-command’s fault as well as the co-pilot’s since the latter did not prevent the pilot-in-command from violating the flight rules.”

Primary Cause

The pilot’s decision to carry out an approach in weather conditions below the minimum limits prescribed for Wroclaw Airport, and his failure to observe the prescribed altitude over the outer radio beacon, contributed to the accident.The pilot’s decision to carry out an approach in weather conditions below the minimum limits prescribed for Wroclaw Airport, and his failure to observe the prescribed altitude over the outer radio beacon, contributed to the accident.

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