What happened
During flight LO007, traveling from Montreal to Warsaw with a stopover in New York-JFK, the crew encountered mechanical difficulties while approaching runway 15 at Warsaw-Okecie Airport. The flight crew reported that the landing gear appeared to be in the down position but was not properly locked.
While flying at an altitude of approximately 250 meters, the captain received clearance to perform a go-around. As the pilot increased engine power to climb, the number two engine experienced an explosion. This event caused secondary damage to the number one engine. The resulting debris struck the aircraft's control systems, severing the cables for the elevator and rudder.
Following the loss of control, the aircraft type entered a steep, uncontrolled descent with a 20-degree nose-down pitch. The aircraft accelerated to 380 km/h before striking an embankment near the Okecie Fort, roughly 900 meters before reaching the runway threshold. The impact caused the four engine airplane to disintegrate. There were no survivors among the 87 fatalities on board.
Findings
Investigations determined that the primary cause of the accident was an explosion in the number two engine. This failure was triggered by the disintegration of a compressor stage, which was attributed to fatigue cracks.