LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055

LOT Polish Airlines

Industry	Airline
Founded	January 1, 1929 (1929-01-01)
Headquarters	Warsaw , Poland
Products	Air transport services

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 was an international passenger service scheduled to fly from Warsaw to New York City. On the morning of 9 May 1987, approximately 54 minutes after takeoff, the Ilyushin Il-62M assigned to this route crashed within the Kabaty Woods nature reserve located near Warsaw. The tragedy resulted in the loss of all 183 individuals on board, including passengers and crew, marking it as the deadliest accident involving an Ilyushin Il-62 aircraft and the most catastrophic aviation incident in Poland's history.

Investigation revealed that the crash was triggered by the failure of an engine shaft caused by defective bearings. This malfunction caused a severe breakdown of both left-side engines, which led to an onboard fire that ultimately compromised and destroyed all flight control systems on the aircraft.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-62M configured with 186 seats, manufactured in the third quarter of 1983. It bore the registration SP-LBG and was named in honor of Tadeusz Kościuszko, a renowned Polish military leader and national icon. This model features four engines mounted at the tail, arranged in pairs on each side: two engines on the left (designated numbers 1 and 2) and two on the right (numbers 3 and 4). The close placement of these engine pairs played a significant role during the accident.

Passengers and crew

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Poland	155	11	166
United States	17	0	17
Total	172	11	183

All crew members were Polish nationals. The captain, Zygmunt Pawlaczyk, aged 59, had accumulated 19,745 flight hours overall, including 5,542 hours specifically on the Ilyushin Il-62, and had held the captaincy on this type since 11 May 1978. The first officer, Leopold Karcher, was 44 years old. Other flight crew included flight engineer Wojciech Kłossek (43), navigator Lesław Łykowski (47), radio operator Leszek Bogdan (43), and Ryszard Chmielewski (53), a flight engineer instructor who was conducting a routine evaluation of Kłossek’s performance. Among the five flight attendants onboard, one was assigned to the technical cabin located between the engines; she likely either lost consciousness and succumbed to fire or was expelled from the aircraft following decompression. Despite thorough searches, her remains were never recovered.

Out of the total passengers, 155 were Polish citizens while the remaining 17 were from the United States.

Accident summary

File:Wolka Kabaty.jpg

Memorial honoring those who perished in the crash

The aircraft departed from runway 33 at Okęcie Airport at 10:18 AM Central European Time (CET) en route to San Francisco with a scheduled stopover in New York City. Clearance was granted to ascend to 31,000 ft (9,400 m) heading towards Grudziądz VHF omnidirectional range (VOR), which was reached at 26,500 ft (8,100 m). Shortly after takeoff, air traffic control instructed Flight 5055 to climb rapidly to 18,000 ft (5,500 m):

10:26	Flight 5055	We are heading to New York; possibly we will reach flight level 180... (lighthearted tone)
10:26	Approach Control	Gentlemen! You won’t make it. You have approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) to TMN [Tango-Mike-November beacon]. Clearance was for level 180 or above. Military aircraft are training there; I cannot coordinate separation.
10:26	Flight 5055	Roger that.
Approach Control | Maintain level one hundred sixty; you are near TMN now. Further climb will be authorized by area control. Frequency is one thirty-four point eighty-seven. Goodbye.
10:27:50	Flight 5055	Understood. See you later. LOT 5055.
Flight 5055 | Warsaw radar, good morning. LOT 5055.
Flight 5055 | Passing TMN at twenty-seven thousand feet; maintaining level one hundred sixty; estimate Grudziądz at forty.
10:31:35	Area Control	Flight 5055, heading 310, climb immediately to flight level 170 [17,000 feet (5,200 m)].
10:31:39	Flight 5055	Roger, heading 310.
10:31:41	Area Control	Climb immediately—I mean immediately.

At this point, maximum engine thrust was applied to reach 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Approximately nine minutes later, as the plane passed near Lipinki village close to Warlubie (near Grudziądz) at an altitude of 8,200 metres (26,900 ft) and speed around 810 kilometres per hour (500 mph), defective bearings within engine number two overheated to nearly 1,000 \degree C, causing a catastrophic failure that destroyed the shaft. The turbine disc detached from its shaft and spun uncontrollably before exploding violently. Fragments scattered extensively, puncturing the fuselage, severing flight control cables and electrical wiring, and inflicting major damage on engine number one—the outer left engine—which soon caught fire as well. Debris ignited cargo hold number four, leading to a rapidly spreading blaze; consequently, the inner left engine burned fiercely until impact.

The flight crew immediately detected failure of elevator controls—only pitch trim remained functional—and realized two engines were lost. Unaware of exact causes, they initially speculated an external collision might have occurred. They initiated an emergency descent to 13,200 feet (4,000 m). Although Gdańsk airport was closer for an emergency landing, fuel dumping limitations prevented landing there due to excessive weight—the aircraft's takeoff weight was approximately 167 tons with about six tons consumed by that time; maximum landing weight for Il-62M is around 107 tons—so they redirected toward Okęcie Airport instead. Electrical system damage impeded fuel dumping operations, and crew remained unaware that fire had extended into rear cargo holds (numbers four and six), likely spreading into passenger compartments during final moments.

Initially planning diversion to Modlin military airport for landing, the crew ultimately opted for Okęcie because it offered superior emergency response capabilities. The rationale behind choosing Okęcie over Modlin remained unclear initially given the worsening fire and loss of control systems; although Modlin's emergency services were less equipped compared to Okęcie’s, they were considered adequate for handling an airliner emergency involving onboard fire. Some speculated that authorities denied permission for landing at Modlin despite crew requests due to military restrictions; however, no definitive proof has ever substantiated this claim. Later investigation attributed decision-making primarily to electrical system failures disabling fire detection both in cargo holds and engines—the cockpit voice recorder captured an engine fire warning shortly after explosion which faded but reappeared minutes before impact—meaning Captain Pawlaczyk was unaware of fire severity or burning engine when choosing to return to Warsaw.

At approximately 10:53 AM, fuel vapors leaking into burning cargo ignited explosively.

Passengers were aware of unfolding crisis; one passenger aged 58, Halina Domeracka, inscribed on her New Testament’s opening page: "9.05.1987 The aircraft is damaged... God, what will happen now... Halina Domeracka, R. Tagore St., Warsaw..."

10:41:28	Commentary	(Intermittent sound indicating autopilot disengagement)
10:41:30	Crew	"Hey! Pressurization!"
10:41:32	Commentary	(Sound indicating cabin decompression)
10:41:34	Crew	"Is there a fire? What's happening?"
10:41:35	"Probably a fire."
"Engine? Shut it down!"
"Shut down... That first one is burning!"
"Fire..."
"All throttles idle."
"Warsaw?"
"All throttles idle. Decompression."
"Two engines lost!"
(Continuous engine fire warning tone.)
"Two engines lost! Shut down... We're turning around! Fire!"
"Danger!!! Warsaw radar LOT! Warsaw radar!" [calling ATC]

The crew attempted an approach to Okęcie from the south due to prevailing strong winds and initiated a full turn towards runway 33 at approximately 11:09 while descending through 4,900 feet (1,500 m) at around airspeed as both cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder ceased operation simultaneously.[citation needed] During this maneuver near Józefosław village about from airport perimeter, fragments of burning fuselage detached from aircraft causing ground fires locally. It is believed that pitch trim controls were destroyed by fire at this stage.

Passing above Piaseczno town shortly thereafter, the plane entered a sinusoidal oscillation characteristic of phugoid motion before abruptly pitching downward with an approximate left bank angle of eleven degrees and a nose-down pitch near twelve degrees. Impact occurred at roughly coupled with violent disintegration across forested terrain some Template:Convert(5700 m) (around Template:Convert(3.5 mi)) distant from runway threshold.

Although definitive cause for sudden nose dive remains undetermined, investigators suggest two likely factors contributed:

• Fire-induced deformation of aft fuselage combined with aerodynamic forces on empennage altered angle of attack resulting in rapid descent;
• Fire spread into rear cabin created panic among passengers who moved forward shifting center of gravity destabilizing aircraft further.

Debris field extended over an area approximately Template:Convert(370 m) by Template:Convert(50 m).

11:09:47	Okęcie Tower	"From your current location about Template:Convert(15 km) remains to runway."
	Crew response:	"Understood."
	Crew:	"...turning left! Engines left!"
11:10:13	Tower:	"Flight 5055 turn left zero-five-zero."
	Crew:	"Okay."
11:10:40	Tower:	"Flight 5055 turn left course three-six-zero."
	Crew:	"We want to turn—that's what we're trying."
	Tower:	"Continue turning course three-six-zero; distance about Template:Convert(12 km)."
	Crew:	"Okay."
11:11:02	Tower:	"Flight 5055 turn left course three-three-zero."
	Crew:	"Turning left."
	Tower:	"Begin final approach approximately Template:Convert(11 km) out."
	Crew:	"We'll do all we can."
	Tower:	"Understood."
	Tower:	"Turn left course three-two-zero."
	Crew:	"Understood."

At approximately 11:12 AM recorded transmissions captured fragmented communications including unintelligible phrases followed by final cockpit words spoken by crew members:

Dobranoc! Do widzenia! Cześć, giniemy! ("Good night! Goodbye! Bye—we’re dying!")

All occupants—172 passengers plus eleven crew—perished when the aircraft disintegrated upon impact.

Cause

File:Ilyushin Il-62M, Airstars AN1060595.jpg

Il-62M engines

Template:More citations needed section Following the crash involving the Il-62 on LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007, the airline initiated a transition from the older Ilyushin Il-62 models to the upgraded Il-62M variants. These newer aircraft were equipped with Soloviev D-30 engines replacing the earlier Kuznetsov NK-8 turbofans; however, both engine types shared a critical vulnerability related to the design and construction of their low pressure turbines and engine shafts.

File:Cylindrical-roller-bearing din5412-t1 type-n ex.png

A roller bearing: The circular ring is the 'race' in which the rollers run.

The Polish investigative commission determined that the accident resulted from the failure of an engine shaft caused by defective bearings within engine number 2. These bearings seized, generating excessive heat that subsequently damaged engine number 1 and triggered its fire. This sequence led to rapid fuselage decompression, a fire in the cargo compartment (which went unnoticed due to a malfunctioning fire alarm sensor)Template:Fix/category, loss of elevator functionality, and progressive electrical system failures.

The bearings implicated were roller bearings, each intended to contain 26 rollers. Due to delays in roller supply to the manufacturing plantTemplate:Fix/category—combined with contractual deadlines—the bearings were assembled with only 13 rollers each.

Aftermath

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Plaque at the exact spot of the crash

The emergency response team from Okęcie Airport was alerted promptly and rushed toward the accident site; however, their fire truck was unable to navigate through narrow spaces between trees, preventing them from reaching the crash location directly.

Several fires ignited on the ground due to burning debris falling from the wreckage and spreading fuel. These blazes were extinguished by noon, with a total of 195 firefighters from 44 different units involved in containment efforts.

Victims suffered extreme trauma resulting in dismemberment; among 183 recovered bodies, identification was impossible for 62 individuals.

Posthumous honors were bestowed upon all crew members: Captain Pawlaczyk received the Officers' Cross of Polonia Restituta, other flight personnel were awarded the Knights' Cross of the same order, and flight attendants earned the Golden Cross of Merit. The crew's state funeral took place on 23 May 1987 at Warsaw’s Northern Communal Cemetery, where their graves are located within close proximity.

The nation observed two days of national mourning following the tragedy. Condolences were expressed globally by numerous dignitaries, including Pope John Paul II, himself a native Pole.

The root cause of this disaster bore resemblance to that identified in the crash of LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 seven years prior. After that earlier incident, Polish investigators concluded that metal fatigue caused engine shaft disintegration due to improper alloy preparation yielding a flawed component with reduced fatigue resistance and a defective shaft design. Detecting these issues required complete engine disassembly and thorough examination beyond routine maintenance capabilities. These findings were reported by Poland’s Special Disasters Commission in 1980; however, Soviet designers and engineers disputed them, attributing turbine failure as an effect rather than a cause of engine malfunction.

Following Flight 5055’s crash, a similar investigation report was submitted to Moscow but initially rejected by Soviet authorities. Soviet engineers produced their own analysis claiming all engine damage resulted from pilot error causing the crash. Despite political pressure and threats from Soviet officials, Polish investigators maintained their conclusions until Soviet representatives reluctantly acknowledged responsibility. Subsequently, LOT Polish Airlines—still unable to acquire Western aircraft—implemented multiple enhancements in Il-62 models:

• Redundancy added to flight control systems (previously identified but unaddressed by Soviet engineers)
• Installation of sophisticated engine shaft vibration monitoring devices on all engines
• Deployment of improved smoke detection systems within cargo compartments (found more reliable than existing fire detectors) alongside advanced fire detectors in engine nacelles
• Replacement of flammable materials in cargo areas with fire-resistant alternatives
• Mandatory laboratory analysis of engine lubricating oil after every flight (a test which could have detected bearing damage earlier if performed)

Legacy

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The crash site in 2017

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Black stone engraved with the names of victims

Following the disaster, the area where Flight 5055 crashed and exploded underwent a three-month restoration process, during which the land was cultivated and replanted with young trees. Even as of 2020, the extensive mark left in the forest remains distinctly visible from aerial views. At the southern boundary of this scar stands a memorial consisting of a tall, black Christian cross alongside a black stone inscribed with the names of those who perished. Within the Ursynów district, there is a street named after Zygmunt Pawlaczyk, and within Kabaty Forest, a grove has been dedicated to Kościuszko.

The crew members have symbolic graves located at Powązki Military Cemetery, while a communal grave for unidentified victims is situated in Wólka Węglowa Cemetery—the site where victim identification took place. Some identified victims were also laid to rest there, whereas others were buried in their respective hometowns.

The Warsaw–New York route continued to be served by the IL-62 until 1989, when it was succeeded by the introduction of the first Boeing 767, which itself was later replaced by the Boeing 787 in 2012.

See also

• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
• List of disasters in Poland by death toll
• LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007
• 1972 Königs Wusterhausen air disaster
• Air Algérie Flight 6289
• Dana Air Flight 992
• Baikal Airlines Flight 130
• United Airlines Flight 232

External links

• Communication between plane and ground control (in Polish) on YouTube
• FAA Summary