Investigation Summary
The flight departed Budapest at 09:34 local time with a six-member crew and a single passenger, Endre Reiter. At the time, Hungarian domestic flights were escorted by plainclothes officers from the State Protection Authority (ÁVH) following a hijacking earlier that year. As the aircraft approached Pécs, weather conditions were poor with visibility dropping below 3,000 meters and the surrounding Mecsek mountains shrouded in fog. The crew initially reported they would not require ground-based guidance while flying at 150 meters, but after missing their first turn, they requested guidance at 10:31. The pilots climbed to 450 meters and initiated a wide right turn instead of the standard left turn. During this maneuver, the aircraft struck the mountainside of Jakab-hegy nose-first. The sole survivor, an ÁVH officer named Lajos Tóth who was seated in the rear, was rescued by locals from the nearby village of Kővágószőlős.
Final Conclusions
The accident was classified as Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) caused by pilot error and a loss of situational awareness in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Contributing factors included the crew's decision to attempt a visual approach in rapidly deteriorating visibility and the execution of an incorrect turn direction during the missed approach/guidance phase, which brought the aircraft into direct conflict with high terrain.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Systems & Failure Modes
Ground-based Guidance System
A radio-based navigation aid at Pécs Airport used to assist pilots during low-visibility approaches; the crew requested its activation only minutes before the crash.
Lisunov Li-2P Airframe
A 21-seat passenger variant of the Li-2, which was a Soviet-built derivative of the Douglas DC-3 featuring metric conversions and Russian engines.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was a one-year-old Lisunov Li-2P, a Soviet-licensed version of the Douglas DC-3.
- 02The sole survivor was Lajos Tóth, an officer of the State Protection Authority (ÁVH); the only ticketed passenger, Endre Reiter, was killed.
- 03The crash was the first disaster in Hungarian civil aviation following World War II.
- 04Due to state censorship, the accident was only briefly mentioned in local newspapers two days later.
- 05By the end of 1948, the aircraft had flown a total of 225 hours and made 142 takeoffs; updated figures for the 1949 crash date were not officially recorded.
- 06While most sources and local records cite November 14, 1949, the Aviation Safety Network lists the date as November 1, 1949.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Security Protocol Reinforcement
Following a hijacking in January 1949, the Hungarian government mandated that all domestic flights be escorted by plainclothes State Protection Authority (ÁVH) officers.
Location
APPROXIMATE POSITION · AIRPORT LEVEL · Coordinates are the estimate published in the entered by an editor. The ring shows the accuracy the record supports, not the point of impact.