1962 LOT Vickers Viscount Warsaw Crash

The 1962 LOT Vickers Viscount Warsaw crash occurred on 19 December 1962 when a Vickers Viscount 804, operated by LOT Polish Airlines on a flight from Brussels to Warsaw, crashed on landing. All passengers and crew died.

The plane was returning from Brussels, and had a mid-way landing in Berlin from where it took off at 5:55 pm. While on approach on runway 33 in Warsaw at 7:30 pm the crew received landing clearance. 46 seconds later the plane crashed and burned 1335 meters from the threshold.

All 33 people aboard died – the crew of 5 and 28 passengers; among whom were:


 * Fryderyk Blumke, Polish engineer, creator of several internal combustion engines, such as FSO Syrena's S-31,
 * Aleksander Jarzębski, Polish composer and principal of Warsaw High School of Music,
 * Marek Kwiek, professor of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and politician,
 * Marcin Szeligiewicz, cultural activist, composer and pianist,
 * Heinz Rauch, Head of the East German statistical service, along with his wife and two children

The Chief Committee of Aircraft Accident Investigation stated that at the time of the accident the plane was configured for landing (flaps set and landing gear lowered). It also stated there was no explosion mid-air and all damage was a result of the crash. The plane was landing in harsh, Winter weather conditions, with dense near-ground fog, 6/8 overcast, fractostratus clouds at 250 meters, 7-km visibility and temperature of 5 degrees below 0.

One of the probable causes of stalling due to low speed was attributed to turboprop engines features which change the propellers pitch during acceleration. Hence sudden throttle increase is not recommended. Such a maneuver was probably executed by the Captain who was accustomed to flying piston engine aircraft in which such maneuvers are allowed. The Vickers Viscount 804 was one of three recently bought from British United Airways in England. On LOT's roster the airliner had logged only 84 flight hours.

Official accident causes:

 * 1) Crew error
 * 2) Crew training errors

There is a possibility that one of the NDB during approach was broken unbeknown to the crew.

Aviation Crashes in 1962

 * Feb 25   Avensa Fairchild F-27 accident
 * Mar 1   American Airlines Flight 1
 * Mar 4   Caledonian Airways Flight 153
 * Mar 8   Turkish Airlines crash
 * Mar 16   Flying Tiger Line Flight 739
 * May 6   Channel Airways Dakota accident
 * May 12   Godthab Catalina crash
 * May 22   Continental Airlines Flight 11
 * Jun 3   Air France Flight 007
 * Jun 22   Air France Flight 117
 * Jun 30   Aeroflot Flight 902

More Crashes In 1962

 * Jul 7   Alitalia Flight 771
 * Jul 19   United Arab Airlines Flight 869
 * Jul 22   Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301
 * Jul 28   Aeroflot Flight 415
 * Aug 1   Royal Nepal Airlines DC-3 crash
 * Sep 3   Aeroflot Flight 3
 * Sep 18   Aeroflot Flight 213
 * Nov 23   United Airlines Flight 297
 * Nov 27   Varig Flight 810
 * Nov 30   Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
 * Dec 19   LOT Vickers Viscount accident