9 May 198720:54 reconstruction119K views

(1987) “Goodbye WE’RE Dying” The Flight That Burned From the Inside Out

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 left Warsaw on 9 May 1987 bound for New York. About 20 minutes into the flight, the failure of the No. 2 engine's low-pressure turbine shaft and turbine disc created a chain of damage that reached far beyond the engine itself. Debris punctured the rear fuselage, damaged flight-control and electrical systems and contributed to a fire. The crew turned back toward Warsaw, but the aircraft was progressively losing the systems needed to control and land it. At 11:12, Ilyushin Il-62M SP-LBG crashed in the Kabaty Woods area about six kilometres from the runway. All 183 people aboard died.

Accident Facts

Date: 9 May 1987

Timeline

9 May 1987, 10:18 —

Flight LO5055 departed Warsaw Runway 33 for the planned New York/JFK route.

During climb —

The aircraft passed the Grudziądz area while continuing toward its planned cruise altitude.

10:41 —

The No. 2 engine suffered a catastrophic internal failure; debris damaged the aft fuselage, flight-control system and electrical system and a fire developed.

Immediately after the failure —

The crew began an emergency descent and turned back toward Warsaw.

During the return —

The crew initially considered Modlin but ultimately selected Warsaw-Okęcie because of its rescue facilities.

11:09:47 —

Warsaw tower reported approximately 15 km to the runway and began issuing turn instructions for Runway 33.

11:11:34 —

The aircraft was corrected toward the runway centerline and cleared for Runway 33.

11:12:10 —

The cockpit transmitter activated repeatedly and only fragments were intelligible.

11:12:13 —

The final recorded transmission was received by ATC.

Moments later —

The aircraft crashed in the Kabaty Woods area approximately six kilometres from the runway; all 183 occupants were killed.

10.

The engine failure became an airframe emergency

The investigation record identifies the initiating mechanical event as the destruction of the No. 2 engine. The turbine failure released debris that punctured the aft fuselage and severed the elevator-control system. The No. 1 engine also had to be shut down, leaving the aircraft with a severely compromised propulsion and control situation.

The fire was particularly destructive because it was not confined to the engine. The available account describes damage to the electrical system and longitudinal control system, while the crew also had to deal with cabin depressurization. What began as an engine failure therefore became a combined fire, propulsion, structural and flight-control emergency.

The crew turned toward Warsaw

The crew initiated an emergency descent and returned toward the departure area. They initially considered Modlin, but Warsaw-Okęcie had better rescue facilities, so they changed the plan. By the time the aircraft reached the Warsaw area, the crew was attempting to manage an aircraft with severely degraded control authority while also receiving vectors from the tower.

The recorded ATC sequence shows the tower giving progressively shorter-range heading instructions. At 11:09:47 the controller reported about 15 kilometres to the runway. The aircraft was then directed left through several headings as it approached Runway 33.

The last turn

At 11:11:34, the tower told the crew that the aircraft had moved to the right of the runway centreline and instructed another left turn. The wind was reported as 290 degrees at 22 km/h and the aircraft was cleared for Runway 33.

Seconds later the communications became unintelligible. The final transmission was received at 11:12:13. The aircraft crashed before reaching the runway, and the entire aircraft was destroyed.

The documented finding

“The cause of the accident was the destruction of engine no.2 resulting in disconnection of the longitudinal control system from the control column.” — Polish accident investigation finding reproduced in the available incident record

Conclusion

LO5055 was not simply an engine failure followed by a missed landing. The engine destruction initiated a cascade that damaged the aircraft's control, electrical and structural systems while a fire continued inside the rear portion of the aircraft. The crew succeeded in turning the aircraft back toward Warsaw and reached the airport area, but the remaining control authority was insufficient to complete the final turn. The last minutes of the flight are documented in the ATC record, which shows how the crew and controller were still working toward Runway 33 immediately before the aircraft was lost.

Sources

Video source (ATC/audio reconstruction)

Audio from the original air traffic control recording, sourced from public recordings and released investigation records. The reconstruction, animation and written account are our own.