LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703

On 2 November 1988, LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703, an Antonov An-24 operating scheduled domestic passenger flight from Warsaw Okęcie Airport to Rzeszów Airport, Poland, crashed short of the runway after an attempted emergency landing following a dual engine failure. Out of the 25 passengers and 4 crew members, 1 passenger was killed, while 12 people were injured. As of 2026, the accident represents the last crash involving the airline.

The investigation concluded that the flight crew's failure to activate the aircraft's de-icing led to both engines failing. Following the accident, the airline accelerated the withdrawal of the An-24 from its fleet and replaced them with the ATR 72.

The aircraft involved was a 22-year-old Antonov An-24B registered as SP-LTD and named Dunajec.^[1][2][3] It was purchased in April 1966 and put into service on 5 April 1966.^[1][4] The Antonov An-24 is a Soviet-built twin-engine turboprop aircraft, entering into commercial service in 1963. The aircraft can seat up to 50 people, with the aircraft involved having a capacity of up to 48 seats.^[5] The aircraft was used to operate LOT Polish Airlines' domestic flights, along with 11 other An-24s.^[6]

There were 25 passengers and 4 crew members, with radio journalist Tomasz Beksiński among the passengers on board the aircraft.^[7] Of the passengers, four of them were foreigners. These included one British, one American, and two Dutch passengers.^[8] In addition, there were two undercover officers posing as passengers who were part of the Milicja Obywatelska, insuring the aircraft's safety.^[9]

The flight crew consisted of the Captain Kazimierz Rożek, who had 30 years of flying experience,^[3][10] first officer Waldemar Wolski,^[3] flight engineer Marek Lubicz-Nowicki,^[11] and flight attendant Elżbieta Żychlińska.^[6]

On 2 November 1988, the aircraft was operating a scheduled domestic passenger from Warsaw Chopin Airport to Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport.^[12][3] On the day of the crash, weather conditions along the flight route included fog and dense low-ceilinged clouds, potentially complicating takeoff and landings.^[6] Before takeoff, Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport relayed that the weather had improved and that the flight could proceed.^[13] The aircraft took off at 09:30 a.m. from Warsaw Chopin Airport en route to Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport; the flight proceeded uneventfully.^[6] At 10:25 a.m., shortly before arrival in Jasionka, the aircraft's engines failed and could not be restarted.^[3] According to the captain, the left engine failed, followed by the right engine moments later, to which subsequent efforts partially restarted the right engine.^[13] The failure of the engines resulted in the loss of electrical power and communication with the ground.^[10] The aircraft began to rapidly descend. Unable to maneuvere with an emergency landing being their sole option, the captain decided to land on field near the village of Białobrzegi that was long and relatively flat. The landing gear was unable to extend, so the captain, with the help of the first officer, attempted a gear-up landing on the field.^[3]

At 10:28 a.m., the aircraft touched down, slamming into the ground,^[7] short of its destination.^[8] The force of the impact ripped some seats off their mounts. After the impact, the plane continued advancing for several hundred meters, bouncing off the field and overflying drainage ditches, with parts of the aircraft and one of its engines detaching.^[3] After coming to a stop, the passengers and crew began evacuations.^[10] Leaking fuel resulted in a fire immediately breaking out.^[14] The cabin began filling with smoke; lights were rendered inoperable, and the exit was blocked by ripped-out seats. Although nearly all occupants managed to evacuate, a 69-year-old passenger remained trapped between crushed seats and was unable to evacuate.^[3] The aircraft's fuel tanks then exploded.^[3][9] Of the 29 occupants, 28 survived while the 69-year-old passenger was killed.^[3] Twelve people sustained injuries, five of them serious, while seven others sustained concussions. The sixteen other people did not suffer any injuries.^[4]

The accident was the airline's first plane crash since LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 on 9 May 1987,^[15] and as of 2026, is the last crash involving the airline.^[3]

A minute after the crash, emergency medical services were called.^[6] Among the first to arrive and help the injured were residents of Rogoźno.^[4] Soon after, private cars approached the crash site, and around 12 minutes later, ambulances and firetrucks arrived. Additional ambulances, firetrucks, and police cars were sent to the scene of the crash, along with helicopters, less than an hour after the crash.^[6]

The Polish Press Agency (PAP) originally reported that 16 people had been killed.^[16] The report was later retracted, confirming the account of a local police officer who told the Associated Press that one person had been killed,^[17] as officials from LOT Polish Airlines said that the confusion might have been caused by several passengers leaving the crash site, before making their way to a nearby road and hitching rides from motorists, leading authorities into initially presuming that they were dead.^[1][5] Authorities reported that five people were hospitalized with a further ten being treated for minor injuries before being released.^[17] A hospital in Łańcut treated 13 people, hospitalizing 3 of them.^[18]

The accident led to a debate on the state of training of Polish pilots,^[19] and the accelerated withdrawal of the Antonov An-24 from the airline's fleet, which was subsequently replaced with the ATR 72,^[9] having already suffered two plane crashes involving the An-24 prior to 1988; LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 in 1969 and LOT Polish Airlines Flight 691 in 1981.^[14]

In October 1989, the British passenger, having sustained a fractured spine, cuts, and bruises, sued the airline claiming negligence on their part "because it allowed the Antonov AN-24 aeroplane to fly when it was not mechanically fit."^[20] He claimed that the airline had inadequately maintained the aircraft, "allow[ing] both engines to cut out in mid air creating a hazard to the passengers."^[21]

The PAP said that while near the city of Rzeszów, the aircraft's engines failed.^[22] According to the Associated Press, the aircraft suffered a mechanical failure.^[18] LOT Polish Airlines spokesman Jerzy Wojdylo stated that the weather was good and that eyewitnesses reported an eagle hitting the aircraft.^[15] The commission of inquiry was headed by pilot Juliusz Werenicz. The aircraft's flight recorder was found on the day of the crash and sent to Warsaw the next day for examination.^[11][6]

Although there is no publicly available official report on the accident, in June 1989, the investigation concluded that the crew had failed to activate the aircraft's anti-icing system in time resulting in the air intakes of the engines clogging with ice. As a result, the engines failed, being starved of air, and could not be restarted.^[14]

• Photo of wreckage