What happened
A cargo operation traveling from Prague toward Bratislava, with a planned stop in Brno, ended in a fatal accident near Pezinok. During the approach phase, at approximately 22:42 local time, the flight crew received clearance to descend toward runway 23 at a heading of 225 degrees. Shortly after 23:02 local time, the pilot communicated that the final turn to intercept the glide path had been completed. However, the aircraft type/model struck the ground roughly 10 km north of the airport.
The impact and subsequent fire destroyed the aircraft. All four crew members perished in the accident. Search efforts located the wreckage two days after the event. At the time of the crash, the flight was approximately 1,500 meters off its intended course. Weather conditions were poor, characterized by heavy rain, severe icing, and low visibility, with broken clouds at 80 meters and an overcast ceiling at 300 meters.
Findings
Investigations determined that the Pitot tubes heater system was turned OFF during the flight. This failure caused critical flight instruments, including airspeed indicators and altimeters, to provide inaccurate data to the crew. Consequently, the aircraft descended to an altitude of only 70 meters, significantly below the required minimum safe altitude of 600 meters.