1962 LOT Vickers Viscount Warsaw crash
| Industry | Aviation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929 |
| Headquarters | Warsaw , Poland |
| Products | Air transport services |
Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence
The 1962 LOT Vickers Viscount Warsaw accident took place on 19 December 1962 when a Vickers Viscount model 804, operated by LOT Polish Airlines on a route from Brussels Airport to Warsaw Chopin Airport, crashed during its landing phase. All 33 individuals aboard perished.
Accident
The flight originated in Brussels and included a scheduled stop in Berlin Tegel Airport, departing there at 17:55. Upon approaching runway 33 at Warsaw at approximately 19:30, air traffic control granted landing permission. Within less than a minute—46 seconds after clearance—the aircraft impacted the ground and caught fire roughly 1,335 meters from the runway threshold.
Everyone on board lost their lives, comprising five crew members and twenty-eight passengers. Among those killed was Heinz Rauch, the chief of the East German statistical office, accompanied by his spouse and two children.
Investigation
The Chief Committee for Aircraft Accident Investigation reported that the aircraft was appropriately configured for landing with flaps extended and landing gear deployed at the time of the incident. They confirmed there was no inflight explosion; all damage was consistent with impact forces. The approach occurred under severe winter weather conditions characterized by dense fog near the surface, an overcast sky covering six-eighths, fractostratus clouds at approximately 250 meters altitude, visibility of seven kilometers, and a temperature around −5 °C.
Causes
One likely factor contributing to the aircraft stalling due to insufficient speed was linked to characteristics of the turboprop engines, which adjust propeller blade pitch during acceleration phases. As a result, abrupt throttle advances are generally discouraged. It is believed that the captain executed such a maneuver, possibly influenced by prior experience piloting piston-engine aircraft where sudden throttle changes are permissible. The Vickers Viscount 804 involved had recently been acquired from British United Airways in England and had accumulated only 84 flight hours under LOT's operation.
The official conclusions identified:
- Pilot error
- Inadequate crew training
Additionally, there remains a possibility that one of the Non-directional beacons used during the instrument approach was malfunctioning without the crew’s knowledge.
References
- Description of the accident from Aviation Safety Network
- Extract from ICAO Accident Digest No. 14 Volume II Circular 71-AN/63, no. 27 (pages 147/148)
Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1962
Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in Poland