On 23 January 2008, CASA C-295M aircraft was scheduled to land at Mirosławec airport. Unfortunately, there was a tragic accident a fewer minutes after 7:00. Just before the landing approach, the device fell to the ground. 20 soldiers were killed. Today, on the 17th anniversary of the disaster, in Mirosławek there will be celebrations commemorating her victims.
Casy's military plane crash was a large blow to the army. On 23 January 2008, just after 19 o'clock, a 019-side transport was approaching Mirosławec Airport. On board the aircraft there were sixteen high-ranking air force officers and a four-man crew. Her commander was Captain Robert Kuźma, an experienced pilot who spent about 2,500 hours in the air. The military traveled 1 of the latest aircraft. This device was only manufactured a year earlier, and it spent no more than 400 hours in the air.
CASA C-295M flew from Warsaw with stops in Powidz and Krzesiny. The military were returning from a conference on flight safety. At 19.07 p.m. before landing, the plane abruptly lowered the flight. He landed on the crowns of trees and then about 800 m from the airport fell to the ground. All the people on board died.
"Lost, but not forgotten, defeated not in battle, but by fate," this inscription appears on an obelisk which stood on a forest clearing at the site of the disaster. It besides included names of tragically deceased soldiers. Under Mirosławce, the following died: Gen. Div. Pil. Andrzej Andrzejewski (commander of the 1st Tactical Aviation Brigade), Brig. Jerzy Pilate (12th Tactical Aviation Base), Brig. Dariusz Mascił (21th Aviation Base), Col. Zbigniew Ksiązek (22nd Aviation Base), Col. Wojciech Maniewski (40th Tactical Aviation Squadron), Col. Zdzisław Cieślik (1st Tactical Aviation Brigade), Col. Dariusz Pawlak (12th Aviation Base), Col. Piotr Firlinger (21st Aviation Base), Col. Grzegorz Jułga (8th Tactical Aviation Squadron), Col. Robert Maj (1st Tactical Aviation Brigade), Col. Krzysztof Smołuch (Air Force Command), Col. Mirosław Wilczyński (1st Tactical Aviation Brigade), Col. Grzegorz Stepaniuk (40th Tactical Aviation Squadron (40th Tactical Aviation Squadron), Vol. The crew were formed by experienced pilots from Balic: Captain Pił. Robert Kuźma, Captain Pił. Michał Smyczyński, Chor. Janusz Adamczyk and Colonel Jarosław Haladus.
Today at 19 am, the military will gather at this monument to pay tribute to the victims of the tragic event.
The causes of the disaster were explained by the Commission of Aviation Accidents Investigation and the Military territory Prosecutor's Office in Poznań. It was established that the aircraft was technically efficient on 23 January 2008 and that the accident resulted, among others, in adverse weather conditions and pilot error. The conclusions of the tragedy at Mirosłowiec and then the next 1 – the plane crash close Smolensk in 2010 – led to a change in aviation regulations. Among another things, records concerning flights with a HEAD status, i.e. flights with the most crucial people in the country, were modified. The guidelines state that pilots who sit behind the steering wheel of VIP machines on board must have experience in combat flights and a minimum of 1000 hours spent in the air.
