Approach and Landing
The flight from Frankfurt was uneventful until the descent to Warsaw-Okecie Airport, where the weather was poor with thunderstorm activity, wind shear, rainfall, and cumulonimbus clouds. The crew was cleared to land on runway 11. During the last seconds of the approach, the wind component changed. The right main landing gear touched down 770 meters past the runway threshold at a speed of 170 knots. The left main gear touched down 9 seconds later, 1,525 meters past the threshold. The runway was wet.
Overrun and Fire
The crew initiated braking procedures, activated thrust reversers, and deployed spoilers. However, the remaining runway distance was insufficient. At a speed of 72 knots, the aircraft overran the runway, went down an embankment, and lost its left engine. It came to rest 90 meters further and burst into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by the post-crash fire.
Casualties
A female passenger and the captain were killed. All other occupants were rescued, among whom 51 were seriously injured.
Probable Cause
According to the official investigation, the cause of the accident was incorrect decisions and actions by the flight crew in a situation where information about wind shear on approach to the runway had been received. The wind shear was produced by a front that had just passed the aerodrome, accompanied by intensive variation of wind parameters and heavy rain on the aerodrome. The crew's actions were also affected by design features of the aircraft that limited the feasibility of applying available braking systems, as well as by insufficient information in the aircraft operations manual (AOM) relating to the increase in landing distance.