Much of the known information about the accident comes from two newspaper articles published in 1994. Their author wrote that, even 25 years after the accident, most documentation on the crash remained classified. Reports were based on the accounts of participants in the rescue action and some members of the accident investigation commission who asked for anonymity.
Flight
The aircraft took off at 15:20 local time for a 55-minute flight to Krakow's Balice Airport. The captain was Czesław Doliński. At 15.49, the first officer received instructions to descend to and get in touch with Balice control tower after passing Jędrzejów, less than 80 km north of Krakow. A military radar registered the aircraft at that time at altitude. The pilots informed controllers in Okęcie and Balice when the plane had passed Jędrzejów VOR, but caused confusion by providing three different passage times a few minutes apart. Shortly thereafter and before 16:00, the captain called Balice, gave his altitude as, received the localweather report, and then was instructed to descend to. At 16:01, the aircraft was recorded at and descending. In the next eight minutes, a series of radio exchanges took place between the aircraft and the Balice radar operator, with the captain repeatedly asking for his fix and reporting problems with the beacon signal, and the operator asking for the aircraft's position and altitude to help him find the aircraft on the radar screen. At 16:05, the aircraft was noted near Maków Podhalański, some 50 km past Krakow, at a height of. The last transmission received from the airplane was, "Left turn to further...-" at 16:08.17. Seconds after that, radio contact was lost. The plane subsequently crashed on the northern slope of Polica mountain, near Zawoja, southern Poland, at an altitude of.
Controversy
The official death toll of 53 remains controversial. The LOT manifest included 53 passengers and 5 crew members, but two days after the crash Polish press agencies published 46 surnames. Among the passengers were 49 Poles, 3 Americans, and a Briton. The official accident report, published in 1970, blamed the accident on the captain becoming lost. No reasons were given as to why the aircraft, just before the crash, was flying at low altitude some past its intended destination.
