On May 21, 2013, a Lufthansa Bombardier CRJ took off at 6 a. m. from Katowice Poland and developed an engine problem. Pilots returned to Katowice and made a safe landing reportedly with an engine fire. The affected engine was shut down.
The plane landed at approximately 7 with about an hour spent in the air. All traffic throughout the airport was stopped at the time.
The fire brigade was ready and the medical responders were immediately on the scene but no injuries were reported. After the plane landed safely, the 63 passengers and four crew were evacuated.
On April 28, 2013, a Wizz Air Airbus A320-232 took off from Warsaw then descended rapidly from about 11000ft.
Passengers smelled smoke. A passenger named Barbara was quoted (machine translation) “Zachybota?o plane dropped like a machine. Then I felt a burning smell. Other passengers can feel it. After a while we went to the employee. Were informed that there was a failure”
Pilots notified ATC and turned around to return to Chopin Airport. The airport said that Pilots said this was not an emergency landing.
There were 161 passengers aboard. They disembarked without any problem, and were provided a later Wizz flight to London.
Pending solutions for the incidents involving the aircraft’s lithium-ion battery produced by Tokyo- based GS Yuasa Corp, while waiting for Boeing 787’s to come out of hibernation, from April 12 to the end of May Lot Airlines is leasing an Airbus SAS from Portugal’s Hi Fly. The A330 flies 18 in business and 288 in coach.
Lot purchased 8 eight 787s, and has received two, one of which is Warsaw, and the other stranded in Chicago.
If Dreamliner operations remain suspended beyond that date, the lease can be extended
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What: Polish Air Force Tupolev TU-154M Where: Smolensk When: Apr 10th 2010 Who: 88 passengers and 8 crew Why: The flight that killed 96 people including President Kaczynski has come to news attention as Poland protests Russia’s publication of grisly images of the crash showing mangled bodies, bodies in body bags, etc… Several websites were involved.
Russia’s federal Investigative Committee is looking into the leaked photo incident.
Russian investigators blame Poland for the crash; Polish invistigators blame Russian ground controllers for allowing the plane to land in heavy fog.
This comes after prior problems of misidentified passengers who were buried by the wrong families. Other agencies are looking into the problems of misidentification.
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What: Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737 scheduled for Gdansk to Gardermoen Where: Gdansk International Airport, Poland When: 13-SEP-2012, 11:50 Who: no fatalities, no injuries Why: The empty plane was at Gdansk International Airport when it was struck by a baggage vehicle.
The plane sustained damage and was subsequently taken out of rotation.
What: LANG Zenair CH 601 Zodiac Where: Pi?a Airport, Poland When: May 3 2012 Who: 2 aboard, 2 fatalities Why: 42-year-old Thomas D. Miroslawiec, pilot instructor with the Czech branch of Pila flight school was flying with a 57 year old student, and crashed around 20.00 in a forested area. The accident occurred when the plane was banking to the left. Witnesses say they heard engine problems and saw it fall into the forest. The probably cause is being called a motor failure. TT\he prosecutor and police conducted a visual inspection of the wreck and reported that the plane had been performing a planned training flight.
The airfield is a former military airport build in the 80’s.
The plane fell in a straight line about 500 meters from the northern end of the runway. The plane is badly damaged – burned and bent. Three fire trucks, two ambulances and two police units responded to the scene of the crash.
The Zenair Zodiac is an Ultra-light.
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As activists chanted anti-government slogans, on April 10, 2012, Poland remembered the crash that wiped out 96 Russians. Memorials were placed in Warsaw at the Presidential Palace and in Smolensk, Russia, where the crash wiped out dozens of top Polish civilian and military leaders.
Investigations concluded the crash was due to bad weather, inadequate crew training and poor guidance from Russian air traffic controllers. Some say that the disaster was not properly investigated and others say it was a deliberate assassination.
The wreckage remains in Smolensk, and according to reports was only recently covered by a tarp to protect it from the elements.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, twin brother of the late president and leader of Poland’s Law and Justice party, boycotted the state ceremonies. He believes the disaster was inadequately investigated and that the state findings were in error.
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What: Cirrus Where: Katowice International Airport southern Poland When: Nov 13, 2011 Who: 2 men and 2 women were aboard Why: After takeoff, the plane disappeared 4.3 miles from the airport.
The wreckage was found in Zyglinie Forest at 8:20 pm. The four passengers all in their late forties and early fifties, died in the crash.
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What: LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Newark,NJ (USA) to Warsaw (Poland) with 220 passengers and 11 crew Where: Warsaw When: Nov 1st 2011 Who: 220 passengers and 11 crew
Belly landings happen frequently enough that there is a checklist of procedures. What makes it difficult? Visualize how a match works. Then think about that plane landing, full of fuel, scraping on the runway. That’s what makes it difficult.
There are basic procedures that are performed. Consider that a 767-300ER has a total of 24,140 gallons, or 161,800 pounds in two wing tanks at 6,070 gallons (or 40,700 pounds), and a center tank at 12,000 gallons, or 80,400 pounds. ( Landing heavy on wheels would cause a wheel or brake fire.) In a gear up landing, the pilot has to lighten the plane by burning off and/or dumping fuel; and in the meantime, the crew does their best to get the gear to work. If they do not, they have to land with the nose up, on a long runway on fire retardant foam. Of course nothing is certain till the investigation is complete, but in my opinion, the crew did a stellar job. And everyone survived, which is what most matters.
Dumping fuel and spending eighty minutes circling Warsaw would not have been enough to completely burn off fuel. There was still the danger of fire as the flight was landing. Flight and cabin crew took every precaution. The landing appeared picture perfect, sliding smoothy on the fuselage. Inside the plane, the passengers were quietly terrified.
It may be that the pilot’s glider experience was a help. Between you and me, it looks a lot smoother if you watch the videos with the sound off, so you don’t hear metal screaming against pavement.
The airport was well prepared, and crews foamed the runway with flame retardant in advance, and stopped any fires from spreading. There is plenty of footage of sparks and flames from the friction of the weight and force of the fuselage driving forward, and yet it came to rest with remarkably little damage.
The emergency crews did their job. So did the pilots, and so did the flight crew. The flight crew secured the stairs in place as soon as the plane was at a standstill. Passengers could not have moved out of the jet and on to the runway any faster.
It isn’t that common for all the gears to fail, but less common for all of them to fail at the same time. . My pilot-experts tell me that the most likely way for the hydraulics of all three landing gear to fail is total loss of fluid. There’s an alternate system; the alternate system for landing gear performs as a combination of electricity and gravity. You release the electronic locks, and gravity kicks in. I don’t think I have seen a reason given why the alternative system failed, but that would seem to be an electrical problem.
But enough speculation–the investigation will reveal everything. For now it certainly appears that even if the gear system failed, the human system did not.
We hear so many bad things about pilots, and airlines, about the entire industry. Aviation watchdogs were badmouthing the industry yesterday, and will be doing so again tomorrow, but for today, it is refreshing to hear something good. What I am hearing about the expertise of the Polish flight crew and airport is all commendable. LOT, you did well. First Officer Jerzy Szwarc and Captain Wrona, you have made your mark in history with the lives you saved today. The Polish media has been hungry for heroes to balance the April 2010 disaster, and now they have you.
Already there is already a polish jingle that is a play on the pilot’s name, Captain Wrona. Wrona means “crow.”
“Lataj jak orze?, l?duj jak Wrona”
This translates to:
“Fly like an eagle, land like a Crow”
What: LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Newark,NJ (USA) to Warsaw (Poland) with 220 passengers and 11 crew Where: Warsaw When: Nov 1st 2011 Who: 220 passengers and 11 crew Why: On the first approach to Warsaw, the flight crew aborted the approach. They had gotten an unsafe gear indication for the three gear struts. They spent over an hour trying to amend the problem, but efforts to lower the gear failed, and the failure was confirmed by a visual fly by.
Captain Tadeusz Wrona and First Officer Jerzy Szwarc then nailed a gear up landing, landing on the Boeing’s belly and skidding to a stop. The runway was foamed beforehand to lower potential fire damage.
In George’s Point of View
Right away the operator is quick to report that no one was injured.
Below, you can see that a US Airport like Indianapolis (with its “beastmaster”) would handle the flight differently. There is always controversy about landing on a foam-slick runway.
What: Republic of Poland Tupolev en route from Warsaw to Smolensk Where: Smolensk, Russia, When: October 4, 2010 Who: 7 crew Why: The report blames the pilots.
We have said this all along–that it takes more than one catastrophic coincidence to take down a plane. And here we are supported now by the latest Polish investigation into the crash of the Polish Presidential plane.
In the case of that crash, the weather was bad. There was no possibility of safe landing. The investigation does not stop there. It goes on to cite a dozen mistakes, safety violations which led to the crash, including crew training, flight prep and rule violations.
What: Polish Air Force Tupolev TU-154M Where: Smolensk When: Apr 10th 2010 Who: 88 passengers and 8 crew Why: On approach to Smolensk North Airport in dense fog, the plane impacted a forest, coming to rest short of the runway. There are conflicting reports leading up to the decision to land at Smolensk (versus Minsk or Moscow), holding pattern, the number of approaches.
Everyone aboard the flight was lost, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, the national bank president, deputy foreign minister, army chaplain, head of the National Security Office, deputy parliament speaker, Olympic Committee head, civil rights commissioner and at least two presidential aides and three lawmakers.
What: Air France Airbus A320-200 en route from Warsaw to Paris Where: Warsaw When: Nov 5th 2010 Why: After takeoff, the crew noticed that fuel levels had dropped alarmingly. Suspecting a fuel leak, the crew returned to Warsaw where they made a safe landing with rescue crews on standby.
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What: Eurolot Polish Airlines Eurolot ATR 72 en route from Krakaw to Warsaw Where: John Paul II Balice International Airport, Warsaw Poland When: April 29 2010 Who: 27 passengers and 4 crew Why: In mid flight, the pilot detected cabin pressure problems, and had inconsistent readings. He reduced his altitude to handle the cabin pressure, and told ATC he would be crash-landing; however, the landing was normal.
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What: Jordanian Royal Falcon Boeing 767-200 on behalf of Iraqi Airways en route from Stockholm to Baghdad/ Al Najaf Where: Warsaw When: Apr 25 2010 Why: After one of the cockpit window panes cracked, the plane made a landing in Warsaw. No one was injured.
How the passengers will be finishing their journey has not been published.
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What: Polish Air Force Tupolev TU-154M Where: Smolensk When: Apr 10th 2010 Who: 88 passengers and 8 crew Why: On approach to Smolensk North Airport in dense fog, the plane impacted a forest, coming to rest short of the runway. There are conflicting reports leading up to the decision to land at Smolensk (versus Minsk or Moscow), holding pattern, the number of approaches.
Everyone aboard the flight was lost, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, the national bank president, deputy foreign minister, army chaplain, head of the National Security Office, deputy parliament speaker, Olympic Committee head, civil rights commissioner and at least two presidential aides and three lawmakers.
Partial list of those lost in the crash:
1. Lech Kaczynski, President of the Republic of Poland
2. Maria Kaczynska, the president’s wife
3. Ryszard Kaczorowski, head of Poland’s London-based government-in-exile during the communist period
4. General Tadeusz Buk, Head of Polish Land Forces
5. Leszek Deptula, MP
6. Grzegorz Dolniak, MP
7. Katarzyna Doraczynska, President’s Chancellery
8 Janina Fetlinska, Senator
9. General Franciszek Gagor, Chief of Staff
10. Grazyna Gesicka, MP
11. Przemyslaw Gosiewski, MP
12. Mariusz Handzlik, Minister at the President’s Chancellery
13. Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, MP
14. Sebastian Karpiniuk, MP
15. Admiral Andrzej Karweta, Head of Polish Navy
16. Mariusz Kazana, Foreign Ministry
17. Janusz Kochanowski, Poland’s Ombudsman
18. Stanislaw Jerzy Komorowski, Deputy Defence Minister
19. Andrzej Kremer, Deputy Foreign Minister
20. Janusz Kurtyka, National Remembrance Institute head
21. Tomasz Merta, Deputy Culture Minister
22. Aleksandra Natalli-Swiat, MP
23. Piotr Nurowski, head of Polish Olympics Committee
24. Krzysztof Putra, Deputy Speaker of parliament
25. Arkadiusz Rybicki, MP
26. Slawomir Skrzypek, head of Poland’s central bank
27. Wladyslaw Stasiak, head of Kaczynski’s Chancellery
28. Aleksander Szczyglo, head of the National Security Bureau
29. Jerzy Szmajdzinski, Deputy Speaker of parliament
30. Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz, MP
31. Izabela Tomaszewska, President’s Chancellery
32. Anna Walentynowicz, former Solidarity activist
33. Zbigniew Wassermann, MP
34. Wieslaw Woda, MP
35. Edward Wojtas, MP
36. Pawel Wypych, Minister and Kaczynski’s Chancellery
37. Stanislaw Zajac, Senator
Click to play video
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What: Zenair CH-601 Zodiac Where: Kie?p Poland When: Dec 15 2009 Who: Pilot, a 68 year old Poznan resident Why: The light plane flying from Poznan to Chelmno crashed for unknown reasons kilometers from its destination, probably during a landing maneuver. The pilot died on the scene.
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