Reports were based on the accounts of participants in the rescue action and some members of the accident investigation commission who asked for anonymity.

At 15:49, the first officer received instructions to descend to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) and get in touch with Balice control tower after passing Jędrzejów, less than 80 km north of Krakow.

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.

The plane subsequently crashed on the northern slope of Polica mountain, near Zawoja, southern Poland, at an altitude of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft).

No reasons were given as to why the aircraft, just before the crash, was flying at low altitude some 50 kilometres (31 mi) past its intended destination.