Thursday’s crash of an F-16 pilot during exercises in Radom before the air show is not the first tragedy to strike military aviation. It is also not the first time that a pilot performing aerobatics connected with the Radom AirSHOW has died.
On Thursday evening, during preparations for the AirSHOW in Radom, an F-16 jet crashed, killing its pilot, Maj. Maciej “Slab” Krakowian. In recent years, several military aircraft crashes have been recorded in Poland. Earlier – mainly in the 1990s and at the beginning of the 21st century – there was a series of accidents in military aviation, which was still widely using post-Soviet equipment.
F-16 multirole fighters are currently the backbone of Poland’s combat aviation, responsible among other things for most patrols and missions related to protecting Polish airspace. On Thursday, one of the 48 aircraft owned by Poland crashed in Radom. This was the first accident involving this type of jet in almost 20 years of service.
Last year, a military aircraft crash occurred in Gdynia-Kosakowo. On July 12, an M-346 Master (Bielik) crashed there. While preparing for a show, the plane hit the runway. The pilot, Maj. Robert “Killer” Jeł, died on the spot. The aircraft belonged to the 41st Air Training Base in Dęblin. On April 27, 2023, an incident also took place during the ceremonial opening of the Warsaw-Radom airport. During a display by the Orlik aerobatic team, two aircraft made contact in mid-air. The pilots landed safely, and no one was hurt. Pieces of the aircraft fell onto private property.
MiG Accidents
In previous years, much attention was drawn to the crash of a MiG-29 stationed in Mińsk Mazowiecki, which on March 4, 2019, crashed during a technical test flight after maintenance. The pilot ejected and landed safely by parachute near Łochów. On July 6, 2018, near Pasłęk (Warmian-Masurian voivodeship), pilot Krzysztof Sobański crashed while flying a MiG-29 from the Malbork base. The Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) admitted that the cause of death was a defectively manufactured ejection seat part – produced by a PGZ-owned facility – which prevented the parachute from deploying.
On December 18, 2017, while approaching to land after a training flight near Kałuszyn, close to Mińsk Mazowiecki, a MiG-29 crashed. The pilot survived. This was the first accident involving a Polish MiG.
On June 19, 2014, a MiG-21 conducting a training flight crashed near Kozienice. The pilot ejected and survived.
They Were Also Military Flights
On April 10, 2010, a Tu-154M aircraft belonging to the 36th Special Air Transport Regiment crashed at Smolensk airport. Ninety-six people died, including President Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria Kaczyńska. The Polish delegation was traveling to ceremonies commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre.
On March 31, 2009, a four-member crew perished in the crash of a “Bryza” military aircraft at Gdynia-Babie Doły airport. The plane was practicing an emergency landing on one engine, the Navy reported.
On February 27, the same year, a Mi-24 attack helicopter from the 49th Combat Helicopter Regiment in Pruszcz Gdański fell from 200 m while on a training flight from Inowrocław to Toruń, ahead of a mission to Afghanistan. The commander and flight engineer survived; the co-pilot, Lt. Robert Wagner, was killed.
Military aviators also remember the crash on January 23, 2008, of a CASA C-295M transport aircraft in Mirosławiec. Four crew members and 16 passengers, who had taken part in the 50th Flight Safety Conference of the Polish Armed Forces, died. Among them was Brig. Gen. Andrzej Andrzejewski, commander of the 1st Tactical Air Brigade in Świdwin (posthumously promoted to Major General).
Tragedies at the AirSHOW
Accidents also occurred during the Radom AirSHOW in previous years, though without the involvement of Polish military pilots. In 2009, two Belarusian pilots – Col. Alaksandr Marfitski and Col. Alaksandr Zhuraulewicz – died in the crash of a Su-27. In 2007, two planes of the “Żelazny” aerobatic team from Zielona Góra collided at low altitude, killing pilots Lech Marchelewski and Piotr Banachowicz.