LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055

Uncommon card · No. 101522

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Warsaw to New York City. In the late-morning hours of 9 May 1987, the Ilyushin Il-62 operating the flight crashed in the Kabaty Woods nature reserve on the outskirts of Warsaw around 54 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. 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.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Tim Rees, GFDL 1.2