Wrocław 2019-04-05
Tu-134 SP-LHD from LZN in Wrocław 2019.
In 2002, Mr. Jakub Marszałkiewicz wrote an article entitled Tu-134 SP-LHD from LZN in Wrocław. This article is available on the POLOT.net website until now. Also in the chapter Tupolew Tu-134 / list, in item 9, there is information about the fate of the aircraft.
A short history of the Tu-134 SP-LHD aircraft.
The Tupolew Tu-134 A No. 48400 was delivered to Poland in June 1976. He was admitted to the state in PLL LOT with SP-LHD registration. It was on board that plane that Pope Saint John Paul II returned to the Vatican after his first pilgrimage to his homeland in 1979. The aircraft was decommissioned in July 1994. In 1997, the plane was handed over free of charge as airplane scrap to the Aviation Scientific Works – Technical School Complex in Wrocław. It was picked up on December 13, 1997 and set up near the school playground.
The plane was without engines, but their nacelles were there. Attempts were made to arrange a lecture hall inside the plane. Unfortunately, it would be necessary to supply the aircraft with energy supply in order to provide heating in winter and cooling in summer. The investment was beyond the school’s capabilities.
In 2002, the management of the facility changed and decided to sell unnecessary property. The school sold the machines through regular auctions. It also announced a tender to sell the aircraft. In the tender offer, the school did not specify what would happen to the plane. The plane is just about to disappear from the school grounds.
The company TELTO entered the tender. She was the only one to submit a willingness to buy an airplane.
The TELTO company deals with the purchase of machines from various tenders, issued by various companies. He often buys machines from school workshops all over Poland. Those that are suitable for further use are renovated and resold. Those that do not find new buyers go to demolition and scrap.
The TELTO company decided to take the risk and expressed its willingness to buy the Tu-134 SP-LHD plane. And she won the tender. The company planned to transport the plane in its entirety. A suitable transport company was searched for. Unfortunately, either the amount of transportation exceeded the value of the plane, or … which was even more difficult … only 30 days to pick up the plane. The talks with the school management did not extend the deadline.
The search for a customer for this plane was also unsuccessful, and as time was running out, to avoid financial sanctions, the company was forced to do so. Despite the most sincere intentions, it was not possible to leave the plane in its entirety. The company still has a glass bow, which has remained as a souvenir. There is also a black box and some equipment, e.g. gyroscopes.
TELTO tried to disassemble the plane. Unfortunately, the corrosion was so advanced that none of the screws could be unscrewed. The wings were cut off. Due to the height of the cargo, it was also impossible to leave the hull, which had to be cut into 4 parts. The fuselage had to be cut, because within a few years the road taken by the plane to the school was rebuilt. For example, multiple columns would have to be repositioned.
Let us return for a moment to the contract for the won tender. You win the tender and you have 30 days to clean the equipment, if not, let’s charge a XXX penalty for each day of delay and that’s it. There were no attempts to save the equipment here, only reminders to remove the plane from the school grounds. TELTO could not afford financial sanctions. 30 days to organize the transport of such a large load was unrealistic. Official deadlines killed the plane.
PS
The article was created on the basis of information received from the TELTO company and is the other side of the coin to the article "Tu-134 SP-LHD from LZN in Wrocław 2002".
Written by Karol Placha Hetman