What happened
On a scheduled domestic flight from Warsaw to Wrocław, an aircraft carrying 44 passengers and 4 crew members was conducting its descent toward the destination. During the approach, the Area Control Centre instructed the flight to descend from 4,500 m to 1,500 m and provided updated weather information indicating a cloud base of 150 m and visibility of 1,600 m due to light fog.
As the aircraft progressed toward the Wrocław non-directional radio beacon (NDB), air traffic control warned that visibility had dropped to 800 m, which was 300 m below the authorized landing minimums. Despite this warning, the pilot continued the descent. After passing the NDB, the crew was notified that visibility had further degraded to 400 m due to thickening fog, yet the pilot decided to proceed with the approach attempt.
While navigating toward the outer locator, the aircraft descended significantly below the required altitude of 225 m, reaching heights as low as 50 to 60 m. At approximately 1730 hours, the aircraft struck treetops, causing a portion of the right wing and its aileron to break off. The resulting bank caused the aircraft to strike high-voltage power lines, severing six electric cables. The flight path then took the plane over five railway tracks, where it entangled with overhead traction cables and numerous signaling wires. Following this sequence of impacts, the landing gear collapsed, and the aircraft struck a road embankment and a light pole before coming to a halt on a road approximately 3.5 km from the runway threshold. The accident resulted in 0 fatalities and no specific injury counts were provided for the 48 people on board.
Findings
Official investigations concluded that the primary cause was the pilot-in-command's decision to execute an approach in weather conditions that were below the legal minimums for Wrocław Airport. Additionally, the crew failed to maintain the prescribed altitude over the outer radio beacon during the procedure. The investigation also noted that the co-pilot failed to intervene or alert the pilot-in-command when the aircraft breached the required height limits.