LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703 was a plane that crash-landed about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of Rogóżno railway station, on 2 November 1988. In the accident one person was killed and several were seriously injured.

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703

A LOT Polish Airlines Antonov An-24, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date	2 November 1988 (1988-11-02)
Summary	Icing causing engine failure
Site	Białobrzegi, Poland 50°06′05″N 22°19′25″E
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Antonov An-24B
Aircraft name	Dunajec
Operator	LOT Polish Airlines
Registration	SP-LTD
Flight origin	Okecie Airport
Destination	Rzeszów Airport
Occupants	29
Passengers	25
Crew	4
Fatalities	1
Injuries	28
Survivors	28

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved, purchased in April 1966,^[1] was a 22-year-old Antonov An-24B registered as SP-LTD and named Dunajec.^[1][2][3] 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.^[4]

Passengers and crew

There were 25 passengers and 4 crew members on board the aircraft, with radio journalist Tomasz Beksiński also among the passengers on board the aircraft.^[5] Of the passengers, four of them were foreigners. These included one British, one American, and two Dutch passengers.^[6] Two of the passengers were undercover officers, who were part of the Milicja Obywatelska, insuring the aircraft's safety.^[7]

The flight crew consisted of the Captain Kazimierz Rożek, who had 30 years of flying experience,^[3][8] and first officer Waldemara Wolskiego.^[3]

Accident

The burned wreckage of the aircraft

The Polish Press Agency (PAP) originally reported that 16 people had been killed.^[9] The report was later retracted, confirming the account of a local police officer who told The Associated Press that one person had been killed,^[10] 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][4] A hospital in Łańcut treated 13 people, hospitalizing 3 of them.^[11]

Investigation

The PAP said that while near the city of Rzeszów, the aircraft's engines failed.^[12] According to The Associated Press, the aircraft suffered a mechanical failure.^[11] LOT Polish Airlines spokesman Jerzy Wojdylo stated that the weather was good and that eyewitnesses reported an eagle hitting the aircraft.^[13]