Air transport is one of the safest forms of transportation, yet aviation accidents do sometimes occur. One of the most remarkable crashes to take place in Lower Silesia—if one may put it that way—was the event that occurred on 24 January 1969 in Wrocław.
That was when a Polish Airlines LOT aircraft bearing registration number SP-LTE crashed. The aircraft was flying from Warsaw’s Okęcie to Wrocław-Strachowice Airport. The weather conditions were very poor. Dense fog made landing difficult. The aircraft took off at 4:35 p.m. and, at around 5:35 p.m., was in the vicinity of Wrocław. This crash was an unusual and, at the same time, fortunate event. As a result, no one died. Several people suffered minor injuries. On the controls on the fateful Flight 149 was Captain Rudolf Rembieliński. The first officer was Czesław Kamiński, and the flight engineer was Henryk Kruk. A stewardess and 44 passengers were also on board.
The flight to Wrocław was operated by a Soviet-built An-24. The Antonov is a short-range turboprop aircraft. Aircraft of this type were manufactured from 1959 to 1979. To this day, they are still operated, particularly in African countries and, of course, in the countries of the former Soviet Union. In Poland, PLL LOT operated RV-type Antonovs. These aircraft were withdrawn after 1991. Aviation accidents involving them contributed to this decision, particularly the crash of 2 November 1988, when an aircraft of this type crashed 32 kilometres from Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport. One person died in that accident.
Antonovs are 23 metres long. Their wingspan is 29 metres, and their maximum speed is 500 km/h. Like most Soviet aircraft of that era, they were excessively noisy, both inside and outside.
But did the type of aircraft matter in this case? Soviet aircraft certainly never enjoyed a good reputation, although there were exceptions. Some passengers who still remember travelling on the Ilyushin-62 or Tu-154 speak highly of these aircraft. Their travel comfort was not inferior to that of Western aircraft. On the other hand, Soviet aircraft were characterised by excessive fuel consumption. Some, such as the Il-62, had defective engines which, combined with inadequate servicing, material defects and unskilled repair work, caused the crashes of two Polish aircraft—the “Kościuszko” and the “Kopernik”. One Polish expert who investigated the causes of the crashes of the Polish Ilyushins stated that “the only advantage of these aircraft was that they could be bought for roubles”.
The An-24, by contrast, does not have such a bad reputation—quite the opposite. It is an aircraft designed for airports with short runways and limited technical facilities. In the case of this crash, there was no question of any technical malfunction. It was simply human error.
During Flight 149, the aircraft approached for landing in dense fog. According to the commission that investigated the accident, the captain failed to observe basic safety rules and began the procedure even though the runway was not visible. The aircraft made a hard landing at around 5:35 p.m., near the Muchobór Wielki housing estate. It struck the treetops, then high-voltage wires and the railway traction line between Wrocław and Wałbrzych. It then mowed down lighting poles. Thanks to one of them, which stood in its path, it did not fall into a nearby pond. After hitting the ground at 200 km/h and ploughing through the obstacles mentioned above, it came to a halt across the road. The Wrocław Furniture Factory was located in the area of the failed landing. Workers who heard the roar of the engines quickly went to the crash site. The fog was so dense that they did not find the wrecked aircraft immediately.
The evacuation from the damaged aircraft proceeded fairly quickly. Darkness descended inside the plane. Furniture-factory workers escorted the passengers and crew to one of the production halls. An ambulance and the fire brigade were called. Several travellers suffered minor injuries. The captain and first officer were injured and taken to hospital. The others were transported by bus to LOT’s Wrocław branch. A photograph of the crashed aircraft is available at https://bi.gazeta.pl/im/49/1f/c9/z13180745Q.jpg
“Strangely, no one screamed, none of the passengers spoke, there were no cries, no hysteria—complete silence. I was aware that I was about to die. I saw what seemed like a film, scenes from my life,” one of the passengers recounted [za https://wyborcza.pl/alehistoria/1,121681,13180209,Wymazana_katastrofa.html].
The cause of the crash near Wrocław was clearly pilot error and failure to follow safety procedures. The captain was informed that visibility at the airport was 800 metres. The minimum for Wrocław-Strachowice was 1100. It is quite possible that Captain Rembieliński wanted to land because he believed he could manage in those conditions. Probably, while descending in order to see the ground from below the clouds, the aircraft descended too low. When it struck the trees, there was no longer any chance of saving it. The aircraft’s fate was sealed. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. Let us remember that during the final phase of the flight, the aircraft was travelling at 200 km/h. It was a miracle that no one died.
After the accident, both pilots lost their licences and were dismissed from LOT. The crashed aircraft was fit only for scrapping. Antonovs are still flying today in, among other places, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and North Korea. In Poland, they operated only short domestic and European routes. After the Tu-134 entered service, they flew only between domestic airports and to Kyiv. In 1991, they were definitively withdrawn from service.
Unfortunately, the passengers of an An-24 travelling from Warsaw to Kraków in April of the same year were not so fortunate. When the aircraft struck the slope of Policy, 53 people died. The crash was never conclusively explained. There are many different hypotheses, including the theory that the aircraft was hijacked and an attempt was made to cross the country’s borders. More about this can be found at https://www.newsweek.pl/historia/katastrofy-prl—katastrofa-an-24-pod-zawoja,63316,1,1.html.
The aviation accident in Wrocław was not widely reported in the national press. As was usually the case in the Polish People’s Republic, information about the event was laconic and limited to a note stating that there had been no fatalities. After the incident, an anecdote circulated among the passengers. When they were being taken by bus to central Wrocław, one of them joked that believers could go to church to pray, while non-believers could go for vodka. Some passengers who were flying for the first time thought that an aircraft always landed that hard...
Paweł Skiersinis
The author is a blogger and a history enthusiast, particularly interested in the history of Lower Silesia and Poland. Why Lower Silesia? As he himself says: “Why not? The most interesting history is the history around us, concerning ourselves and our ancestors.”
He adds: “I try to present history from a different perspective, in an interesting way, not in the typical textbook style, full of dry dates and facts. My articles concern facts that we will not find in textbooks and well-known publications. The history of Lower Silesia is undoubtedly interesting and fascinating, so it is worth occasionally giving it at least a brief moment of our attention.”