What happened
At approximately 12:30 GMT, a flight carrying 25 passengers and 4 crew members departed Belgrade Airport for Vienna under clear weather conditions. During the flight, air traffic controllers transferred responsibility for the aircraft from area control to Vienna approach control at 14:25. The pilot was directed to utilize the homer for the approach, receiving a QDM of 100° at 14:29.
By 14:30, the aircraft had passed over the OEW radio beacon. Controllers instructed the crew to maintain an altitude of 150 meters above the cloud tops and provided a new QDM of 123°. Shortly after, the pilot was cleared to descend to 1,060 meters and instructed to report back once reaching that altitude over the OEW beacon. The flight was subsequently cleared for an instrument approach toward Runway 12, with controllers providing necessary bearings and QDM updates.
The final QDM of 140° was communicated at 14:39, but the pilot did not acknowledge this specific instruction. At 14:40, while configured for landing with the gear down and flaps at the approach angle, the aircraft suddenly applied full throttle and climbed sharply before impacting the northwest slope of the Kahlenberg in an uphill orientation. The impact triggered a fire that destroyed the aircraft type (unspecified model). The accident resulted in 6 fatalities (the pilot and five passengers) and 1 additional passenger death due to injuries sustained, alongside several other occupants who suffered varying degrees of injury.
Findings
Investigations determined that the aircraft remained on an outbound track for an extended duration. This led to the plane descending below the minimum altitude required by the airline's operating procedures for arrivals at Schwechat aerodrome.