LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Warsaw, Poland to New York City, the United States. In the late-morning hours of 9 May 1987, the Ilyushin Il-62M operating the flight crashed in the Kabaty Woods nature reserve on the outskirts of Warsaw around 56 minutes after departure. All 183 passengers and crew on board were killed in the crash, making it the deadliest accident involving an Ilyushin Il-62, and the deadliest aviation disaster in Polish history.
SP-LBG, the aircraft involved in the accident, in October 1986. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 9 May 1987 |
| Summary | Uncontained engine failure leading to in-flight fire and destruction of control systems |
| Site | Kabaty Woods nature reserve, near Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, Warsaw, Poland 52°06′48″N 21°02′40″E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Ilyushin Il-62M |
| Aircraft name | Tadeusz Kościuszko |
| Operator | LOT Polish Airlines |
| Registration | SP-LBG |
| Flight origin | Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, Warsaw, Poland |
| Stopover | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States |
| Destination | San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, United States |
| Occupants | 183 |
| Passengers | 172 |
| Crew | 11 |
| Fatalities | 183 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The accident was determined to have been caused by the disintegration of an engine shaft due to faulty bearings. This led to a catastrophic failure of the two left engines and then an onboard fire, both of which eventually destroyed all flight-control systems.