What happened
On the day of the accident, Malev Airlines Flight 355 was conducting a scheduled international service. Prior to the flight's departure from Frankfurt, the crew spent approximately two hours reviewing meteorological reports due to concerns regarding low-level stratus clouds and potential light icing conditions.
The aircraft, carrying 13 passengers and a crew of four, departed Frankfurt for Le Bourget. During the descent phase, the flight communicated with the North Area Control Centre, reporting its position over Luxembourg at flight level 180. Between 1344 and 1355 hours, the aircraft received progressive descent clearances down to 1800 feet.
A series of navigational discrepancies occurred during the approach. While the crew believed they were proceeding toward waypoint BN, air traffic controllers attempted to redirect them toward waypoint BE. Despite repeated instructions from Le Bourget Approach to proceed to BE and a confirmation of the altimeter setting, the aircraft continued its trajectory. At 1405:30 hours, the aircraft reported passing over BE. Under normal circumstances, the aircraft should have maintained level flight at approximately 1500 feet with specific flap settings.
Following this report, radio contact was lost. At 1421 hours, authorities were notified that the Ilyushin Il-18 had crashed approximately 800 meters beyond the outer marker and roughly 135 meters to the right of the ILS centerline. The accident resulted in 17 fatalities.
Findings
Investigation into the crash determined that the aircraft experienced a stall while in a landing configuration with the gear extended and flaps at 30°. At the moment of impact, all four engines were operating at nearly full power. Investigators noted that the stall pattern was consistent with a high G-load maneuver, though they could not determine what specific factor triggered such a maneuver.