Today, the ceremony of Colonel Maciej Krakowian was held. According to the family's will, the ceremony was private. "Slaba", who died in the F-16 fighter crash, besides said good-bye in entries and talks to colleagues by profession and journalists. Let's give them the floor.
“My dream is just beginning to come true,” Maciej Krakowian wrote me in an email. It was April 2013, and he, then a young lieutenant, a postgraduate of the Air advanced School in Dęblin and the Academy of the United States Air Force in Colorado Springs, began a multi-step training that would make him pilot F-16, says Łukasz Zalesiński, writer of “Polish Armed Forces”. – He answered my questions on the run, for which he was very sorry. However, it was hard to be amazed – we were divided by the ocean, respective time zones, and he had plenty of formalities to complete. shortly this dream came true. Krakowian became a pilot of Jastrzębie, 1 of the best in Poland – Zalesiński adds.
The sense of work and the ability to reflect
Captain Pil. Witold Sokół first met with “Slab” in 2015, on the occasion of the Air Show. Maciek came to my station. Then we saw each another from show to show – remembers the longtime commentator of the Radom event. – We exchanged views on aerobatic flying. another machines – I flew on MiG-29, he on F-16 – different times, but many issues are common or similar, so there was something to talk about. He didn't perceive out of courtesy, he felt like he was just into it. He was in the air force to his ears.
– He was able to combine method skills with a deep sense of work and the ability to reflect," emphasises Łukasz Zalesinski. And he talks about the conversation he had with “Slab” in 2022, just after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Krakowian said at the time: – I have always respected maxim: “You want peace, prepare for war.” I served with the feeling that you should be ready for anything. The conflict in Ukraine did not change much in my service, but in a sense it turned out to be a "eye-opener". The war has become closer than ever. Sometimes I think: “What if you truly gotta fight for your country, your family, your friends?” Times change, so it may be all the more crucial to appreciate the fact that we have this independence, that we have peace. As long as possible...
He's always been a squad player.
Ewa Korsak, a longtime reporter of “Polish Armed Forces”, met Krakowiana in Lithuania in 2018. “We visited the contingent “Orlik” at the time,” says the current head of the Military Publishing Institute. Maciek refused to talk to me right at the beginning due to the fact that he was just getting ready for duty. "I just want to focus on it," he apologized. After the flight, he was at our disposal, relaxed, willing to talk. Later on, I found out that this was what he was: kind, cooperative, but above all, a request for good preparation and safety.
“Slab seemed to be individual who knew what he was doing,” Korsak adds. He avoided pretentiousness, superiority. He frequently emphasized that what he does is teamwork. In May of that year we were preparing material about the decade Tiger Demo Team. Maciek welcomed us to the base gate in Krzesiny. “I would love to talk to you, but first talk to my team; I am just a brick here”, he said.
Korsak besides emphasizes another feature of Krakowian. – At the interface of our professionals – journalism and military – there are matters that should not be mentioned or even not,” she notes. “When we were dealing with specified issues, he said, “But I can’t tell you” and explained why. "No, due to the fact that it wasn't" his style.
Witold Sokol had akin experiences with “Slab”. “Though he beat professionalism from Maciek, there was besides modesty, humility,” says the captain. “I know everything, I know better.”
– There was an old-fashioned schnyt, gallantry – adds Ewa Korsak. – specified men were erstwhile referred to as "gentlemen".
The best thing that always happened to the air force
– I guess it was only after the death of Maciej that I realized that he was an idol – admits Bartek Bera, an aviation photographer who participated in many air-to-air sessions together with “Slab”. – possibly the only idol in uniform after 1989. Thanks to his charisma and his warm disposition, he was able to kidnap crowds. It is adequate to mention long queues for an autograph or a photograph at any air organization with his participation. And I am not just talking about children, but besides about adults, including myself – reserves the author of photographs illustrating the sky service. – He always smiled and gladly posed for pictures and signed souvenirs, and people were looking at him. A colleague at work erstwhile told me that this was how she imagined the F-16 pilot, and I couldn't disagree with her. Maciek was a “model” officer and pilot – he had class in and out of the air.
– He was not afraid of the camera, he felt comfortable in front of it," emphasized Ewa Korsak. – Thanks to these qualities, and due to the fact that he was a very handsome man, he became 1 of the faces of the Polish Army recruitment campaign. But something else decided about this choice – the head of WIW returns memories to meetings with “Slab”. – He had sparks in his eyes erstwhile he talked about 3 things: about the F-16, about the Tiger Demo squad and about recruitment to the air force and the full army. The Tiger Demo squad was for him an effective tool for "infecting" aero-military passion. He was happy that the shows attracted so much attention.
– I have the belief that he was the best thing that happened to the air force and that he cannot be full replaced," says Bartek Bera. “His death ripped out a part of the air heart,” adds Witold Sokół.
Mission man formation
– It struck me how beautifully his friends from another countries remembered him," Bera admits. He was a fantastic ambassador to our army.
"Slab was everything a show pilot should be – an aviation enthusiast, eager to share his cognition about aviation and teamwork. We know how much he enjoyed Red Arrows' next performance on the Radom Air Show. This shows not only that aviation is simply a global language, but besides how ‘Slab’ will be remembered – as part of our show community that shares a passion for inspiring people of all ages and environments," wrote members of The Red Arrows, Royal Air Force acrobatics team.
"As a actual pilot, he devoted his life to heaven, honorably representing Poland as the leader of the F-16 Tiger show squad and inspiring future generations of pilots with his passion and professionalism. With over 1,200 hours of raiding the F-16 he protected the sky of allies and showed the planet the spirit of excellence. The discrimination ‘As the Crow Flies Trophy’ during RIAT 2025 is simply a permanent evidence to his skills and dedication,’ says the message of the Greek show group F-16 ‘ZEUS’. “The departure of Major Maciej ‘Slaba’ Krakowian leaves a deep void in the hearts of the family, accompanied by weapons and Polish air forces. However, his memory will proceed to soar high, where the clouds turn into paths, and the horizon remains an infinite promise. Let heaven always be blue, ‘Slab’,’ wrote Greek comrades of arms.
The American colleagues besides said goodbye. During president Charles Nawrocki's visit to the United States, 4 F-16 aircraft performed an air salute in the "mission man" formation; this is how a well-deserved deceased pilot is commemorated. In the U.S. Air Force tradition, the maneuver is performed by 2 pairs forming the form of the letter V in the sky. Planes fly low above the venue of the ceremony – in this case, it was the White House, hosted by the head of the Polish Armed Forces. Being above the target, the commander of the second pair begins a fast climb, while the remainder of the machines proceed to fly horizontally with a clearly visible gap between them after the missing aircraft. besides during the ceremony on September 3, "mission man" went advanced up. Major Maciej “Slab” Krakowian flew to a place where he believes to take an air carrier.
Today, pilot Maciej “Slab” Krakowian was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
