Warszawa 2014-04-15
The history of LOT Polish Airlines.
Part 3. 1963-1987.
1963 year.
The relatively long-range planes owned by LOT Polish Airlines allowed for the launch of further long-haul connections. In 1963, PLL LOT launches further non-European air connections:
Warsaw-Baghdad, Iraq – 2,816 km, 1,750 miles, 1,521 NM.
Warsaw-Beirut, Lebanon – 2,347 km, 1,458 miles, 1,267 NM.
Warsaw-Benghazi, Libya – 2,240 km, 1,392 miles, 1,210 NM.
Warsaw-Damascus, Syria – 2,417 km, 1,502 miles, 1,305 NM.
Warsaw-Tunis, Tunisia – 1,915 km, 1,190 miles, 1,034 NM.
1966 year.
In March 1966, LOT Polish Airlines adopted for its equipment twin-engine, turboprop Antonow An-24 W planes. There were about 20 machines, including those delivered by the military, to the machines. They replaced Li-2 and Il-14 planes. They were operated mainly on domestic lines. At the beginning of 1990, they began to be replaced by ATR-42 planes. Their final exploitation ended in 1992, and some of the machines were sold. For almost 26 years, the An-24 W was the primary passenger plane on domestic routes, connecting the following airports; Okęcie, Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, Gdańsk-Rębiechowo, Balice, Wrocław-Starachowice, Poznań-Ławica, Szczecin-Goleniów, Koszalin-Zegrze Pomorskie, Słupsk, Rzeszów.
Unfortunately, three casualties occurred in Poland with the participation of these planes. The most tragic accident was on April 2, 1969, in the Babia Góra Range, near Zawoja. 53 people died. Everyone on board the plane.
1968 year.
In 1968, the era of turbojet planes began at LOT Polish Airlines. The decision to buy Tupolew Tu-134 aircraft by Poland for PLL LOT was made in 1967 and it was included in the budget for 1968.
At the beginning, a decision was made to purchase 5 machines of the Tu-134 type in the first export version with a glass nose. The first two planes were delivered to Poland on November 6, 1968, and these were; Tu-134 no.8350602 SP-LGA Ignacy Paderewski and Tu-134 no.8350603 SP-LGB Władysław Reymont. These were the first turbojet transport planes used in Poland. They were received very solemnly and that is why they were given proper names. The first of these aircraft was decommissioned in June 1982 and sold to Aeroflot (CCCP-65933). The second, on January 23, 1980, while landing at the Okęcie airport on DS 11 (RWY 11), suffered damage to the right wing, which caused a fire. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the plane was canceled. It was the only case of an air incident involving the Polish Tu-134 that could end tragically.
We received the next three Tu-134s at the turn of April and May 1969; SP-LGC No. 9350804 Maria Skłodowska-Curie, SP-LGD No. 9350805 Ludwik Zamenhoff and SP-LGE No. 9350806 Ignacy Domeyko. These planes served well in LOT Polish Airlines until June 1982, when they were sold to Aeroflot together with SP-LGA. They received their respective registrations there; CCCP-65923, CCCP-65922, CCCP-65924.
The first five machines in use in Poland have undergone modernization. They have received newer means of communication. This was easily recognizable by the sting on the tail instead of the long line running to the front of the fuselage.
In 1972, decisions were made to purchase more Tu-134 machines, this time in the A version. These machines received a 2.10 m long hull and were made in the configuration of 84 seats (Y76 configuration). Besides, externally, they did not differ much from those used so far. We received the first three machines at the turn of March and April 1973; SP-LHA No. 3351808 Paweł Strzelecki, SP-LHB No. 3351809 Józef Bem, SP-LHC No. 3351810 Janusz Kusociński. The first one (SP-LHA) was in operation until June 1993. Provided free of charge as airplane scrap to JW. 2305 in Warsaw. Received on September 18, 1997. The SP-LHB plane ended its service in June 1992 and was donated free of charge as airplane scrap to the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow. Received on October 25, 1999 and to this day (2021) it is the largest exhibit at the Museum in Czyżyny. The SP-LHC aircraft ended its service in March 1993. Sold as airplane scrap for the Warsaw Police Headquarters. Received on October 10, 1997. It was set up on a police training ground at Aleje Jerozolimskie in Warsaw, Mszczonowska Street, at Reduta, where it is currently (2005) used to train anti-terrorist police units and the Special Military Formation Grom.
Another two Tu-134 A, PLL LOT received in June 1976; SP-LHD No. 48400, SP-LHE No. 48405. These aircraft have not received proper names anymore. The SP-LHD aircraft was withdrawn in July 1994.
The SP-LHD plane thanks to the efforts of the former director, Eng. Czesławiltrowski, he found his way to the Aviation Research Institute in Wrocław in 1998 (handed over on December 13, 1997). Here, too, only the cost of transport was covered. It was placed next to the school playground on ul. Kiełczowska 43. The plane was fully complete except for the engines. Currently, the plane is no longer available. In 2002, it was cut for scrap.
The SP-LHE aircraft ended its service in November 1993. It was donated free of charge as airplane scrap to the Museum – Exhibition of Aviation and Military Equipment in Łódź Lublinek. Received on March 15, 1998. After the museum was closed, no further lost aircraft are known.
In 1968, PLL LOT launched new connections; Warsaw-Kiev, Warsaw-Istanbul, Turkey – 1,386 km, 861 miles, 749 NM.
In 1969, a new airport was opened at Okęcie Airport. See the article Okecie Airport.
1972 year.
In socialist Poland, in 1970, there was unrest and social unrest. Especially on the coast in Gdańsk. Power was taken over by a new party team with the first secretary of the PZPR, Edward Gierek. Poland has partially opened up to the world. It’s been 25 years since the Second World War. Polish emigrants more and more often wanted to visit their homeland, and Poles living in the country wanted to visit their relatives across the Great Water. In this situation, the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party decided that LOT Polish Airlines would join the exclusive club of transatlantic carriers.
Today (2021) it seems that it was nothing special. If anyone thinks so, he is very wrong. It was really something extraordinary. Before Edward Gierek, the authorities in the People’s Republic of Poland were exercised by Wiesław Gomułka. In his day, such a move was beyond mind. In his opinion, contacts with the capitalist world should be kept to a minimum. As for international flights, it only allowed flights to a few Western European capitals. Considering it as a luxury anyway. In his opinion, the purchase of Western-made machines for PLL LOT was unthinkable. No wonder then that the Boeing 707 or DC-8 sales offers, which at that time dominated the Atlantic, landed in the basket.
In 1972, Poland bought the first long-haul aircraft. Political conditions indicated only the only offer, which was the Iliuszyn Il-62 plane from OKB Iliuszyn, still managed by the already aged Sergei W. Iliusin. In March 1972, the first Il-62 SP-LAA Mikołaj Kopernik was delivered to Poland. Several months of training for the crew of new aircraft were transferred to the CCCP. They were conducted at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow. In total, 7 Il-62 planes were incorporated into the PLL LOT fleet. All these planes were named after famous Poles. IL-62: SP-LAA (No. 11004) Nicolaus Copernicus. SP-LAB (No. 21105) Tadeusz Kościuszko. SP-LAC (No. 31401) Fryderyk Chopin. SP-LAD (No. 41604) Kazimierz Pulaski. SP-LAE (No. 41802) Henryk Sienkiewicz. SP-LAF (No. 62204) Adam Mickiewicz. SP-LAG (No. 2725456) Maria Skłodowska-Curie.
The baptism of the Polish Ił-62 SP-LAA Nicolaus Copernicus took place on April 16, 1973, when he went from Warsaw to New York with a full set of passengers (6,862 km, 4,264 miles, 3,705 NM).
The network of charter flights has developed. In 1976, the first voyage to the Far East to Bangkok, Thailand via Dubai, UAE and Mumbai, India. (8,100 km, 5,033 miles, 4,374 NM). Until 1979, Il-62 aircraft regularly flew to Kuwait, Tripoli and Algiers: Warsaw-Kuwait, Kuwait – 3,373 km, 2,096 miles, 1,821 NM. Warsaw-Tripoli, Lebanon – 2,307 km, 1,433 miles, 1,245 NM. Warsaw-Algiers, Algeria – 2,224 km, 1,382 miles, 1 201 NM. There were also charter flights to Sydney, Australia (performed in stages; 15,612 km, 9,701 miles, 8,430 NM) and to Tokyo, Japan (8,590 km, 5,337 miles, 4,638 NM). All these flights were carried out with Il-62 planes.
In 1978, visual artists Roman Duszek and Andrzej Zbrożek developed a new graphic design for LOT’s planes: the fuselage is painted white, in the front part there is a large, in italics tilted to the right side, a navy blue word LOT combined with a navy blue stripe running along the fuselage on the vertical tail there is a crane and the Polish flag. The change of the look of PLL LOT planes was related to the 50th anniversary of the national carrier, celebrated in 1979.
The good streak of the Polish Ił-62 ended on March 14, 1980, with the crash of the SP-LAA Mikołaj Kopernik plane. The entire crew and all passengers of the plane died in the crash, 87 people in total. Honor their memory ! The entire catastrophe is described in a separate Chapter. The Russians were to blame for the catastrophe, who sloppily overhauled the engine. As a result of this catastrophe, all Il-62 planes were replaced with Il-62 M. A total of 9 machines in the modernized Il-62 M version were included in the PLL LOT fleet; SP-LBA (No. 2932526) Juliusz Słowacki. SP-LBB (No. 1034152) Ignacy Paderewski. SP-LBC (No. 3036253) Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski. SP-LBD (No. 1138234) Gen. Władysław Sikorski. SP-LBE (No. 1138546) Stanisław Moniuszko. SP-LBF (No. 2343554) Fryderyk Chopin. SP-LBG (No. 3344942) Tadeusz Kościuszko. SP-LBH (No. 1748445). SP-LBI (No. 4831739).
It did not help much, because on May 9, 1987, Tadeusz Kościuszko Ił-62 M SP-LBG crashed in the Kabacki Forest. 183 people were killed, all on board the plane. Honor their memory ! It is to date (2021) the largest disaster in LOT Polish Airlines. The cause was similar. Improper engine overhaul by the Russians.
1974 year.
At LOT Polish Airlines, a Rented Flights Department was organized to organize charter flights. The department operated for over 30 years. Several seasonal connections from Polish Regional Airports abroad were launched. Among them, from Krakow to Varna, Bulgaria. These flights were suspended with the introduction of martial law and have not been returned to.
1981 year.
Due to the introduction of martial law by General Wojciech Jaruzelski on December 13, 1981, all LOT Polish Airlines flights were suspended, and foreign planes were not admitted to Poland. In the spring of 1982, PLL LOT restarted domestic connections. There were few passengers, because in addition to the ticket, you had to have a special pass. There were always at least two ZOMO officers armed with long weapons on board. Martial law was suspended on December 31, 1982, and abolished on July 22, 1983, for a communist holiday. Only in 1983, LOT Polish Airlines resumed European connections. The first flights to New York and Chicago resumed on April 28, 1984.
1984 year.
New PLL LOT routes have been launched, carried out in stages; Warsaw-New Delhi, India – 5,269 km, 3,274 miles, 2,845 NM. Warsaw-Beijing, China – 6,948 km, 4,317 miles, 3,752 NM.
1985 year.
The economic situation in the People’s Republic of Poland and the entire eastern European kolkhoz is getting worse every month. It was more and more difficult to keep the exhausted Il-18 and Tu-134 aircraft in full working order. To save the situation, LOT Polish Airlines used the Jak-40 planes belonging to the 36th Special Regiment of Transport Aviation. In 1986, a decision was made to withdraw the Ił-18 and Tu-134 aircraft from service. In their place, new Tu-154 M planes were introduced.
In May 1985, two Tu-154 B-2 planes were delivered to LOT Polish Airlines. The planes were given the colors of the LOT company, but the registrations were Russian. The first was CCCP-85331 No. 79A-331. It had 164 passenger seats. He flew with LOT until September 1988. It then flew as EW-85331 Belavia. The second was the Tu-154 B-2 registration CCCP-85455 No. 80A-455. It took 164 passengers on board. In service from May 1985 to October 1988. On 01/21/1995, he was terminated after an accident in Karachi.
In May 1986, Aeroflot leased the third Tu-154 B-2 aircraft, registration CCCP-85 334 No. 79A-334, also for 164 passengers. The LOT plane operated only until June 1986, i.e. less than two months. Later, as RA-85334, he was in Aeroflot and Pułkowo Airlines.
1986 year.
The analyzes carried out by LOT Polish Airlines resulted in a decision to purchase Tu-154 M aircraft. In May 1986, the first purchased Tu-154 M aircraft, registration SP-LCA No. 86A-727, arrived in Poland. The aircraft had a configuration of 150 seats. In advance of the facts, we would like to mention that it was operated by LOT Polish Airlines until July 1995. Later 4K-727 Turan Air, LZ-LCS Bulgarian Air Charter.
Despite the delivery of the first Tu-154 M, the Polish side had numerous comments, which the Moscow side took into account and introduced changes to the SP-LCD, which became the model, and the previous ones, i.e. SP-LCA, SP-LCB and SP-LCC, were brought to this during repairs. standard. In August 1986, another Tu-154 M SP-LCB aircraft arrived, operated by LOT until July 1995, then 4K-733 Turan Air, LZ-HMP Hemus Air, LZ-LCV Bulgarian Air Charter. Another one delivered in March 1987 was the SP-LCC, in service until December 1996, then RA-85827 Buryatia Airlines and Enkor. At the end of August 1987, the Tu-154 M, registration SP-LCD No. 87A-755, arrived in Poland. It was the fourth out of 14 contracted Tu-154 M aircraft for LOT Polish Airlines. It was nothing extraordinary, but it was the benchmark machine for all machines intended for Poland.
What made this plane different from the three previous ones? First of all, all the inscriptions on the plane, including the flight deck, were in Polish. The aircraft received a 150-seat configuration; 52 seats in the front cabin of a higher standard because there is a greater distance between the rows. 98 seats in the second cabin, as a tourist class. Regular travelers immediately noticed the new row and seat marking system. Readable subtitles. Clear instructions for the safety system. New, much better lighting of the passenger compartment. The designer of the markings was the visual artist Krystyna Żmijewska-Borowicz. The plane was already able to transport goods during production. The set included special trolleys for transporting goods, devices for securing cargo on the deck, roller floor guards and side guards. The payload has been increased by 1,000 kg to 19,000 kg. Selected areas of the airframe structure were protected with anti-corrosion preparations of Swedish production. The plane received a new evacuation system in the form of 6 inflatable gangways of a new type in place of the previous 5 gangways and one gutter. The gangways are similar to those produced by the British company RFD. They are twice as light. They are much easier to use. Just throw them outside. The rest happens automatically. They fill with nitrogen. The sixth gangway, instead of the gutter, was an initiative of LOT, although it came at the cost of one passenger seat. The kitchen-buffet has changed radically. Now there are 3 buffets on board instead of one inside. The buffets were equipped with Western production equipment. Buffet designs were made by Polish engineers; Jacek Paradowski and Jacek Kowalczyk. The project gained recognition at the Kujbyszew plant and among the companies operating the Tu-154 aircraft. The space for the front buffet was obtained by eliminating 3 passenger seats. Thanks to the new buffets, catering on board was much more efficient. Now there are 10 carts, and there were only two. There are 29 bins for meals and there were only 10. There are 2 refrigerated cabinets and there was only 1 fridge. There are 11 water heaters and there was 1 large tank with 1 heater. There are 7 food warmers and there were 5 ovens. There is a much larger ice bucket. Thanks to larger buffets, you can now take your provisions on the way back, which reduces costs and facilitates handling in foreign ports. It was also possible to serve more varied food. More space is also a larger assortment for the Baltona on-board store.
As we can see, a lot has been done for the passengers. But also in the flight deck, there were changes. The plane received a long-distance navigation system consisting of two Omega sets from the Canadian company. The system is linked to an automatic pilot. Additionally, a new crew radio call system connected to Mikron and Balkan radios was installed. The SP-LCD aircraft received the flight code LM-JP. The system is sound (selective with 16 tones) and light. It is the latest generation US production device. The next change is two, not one, rangefinder indicator in front of each of the pilots. The arrangement of some indicators on the instrument panel has been changed. The flight parameters recorder, the so-called black box, received additional tracks for recording the exhaust gas temperatures and the ambient temperature. The parameter of dangerous engine vibration was also changed, which was a point, for exceeding the increased engine vibration, i.e. a continuous measurement from a certain threshold.
All these changes were the result of cooperation between PLL LOT (supported by Polish Institutes) and Aviaexport, representing the manufacturer’s side and the authorities in the Kremlin. The SP-LCD plane flew with LOT until August 1997, then RA-85829 Buryatia Airlines and Enkor.
Unfortunately, on May 9, 1987, another tragedy of the LOT Polish Airlines plane took place. This time the Il-62 M, powered by D-30 KU engines, identical to those used in the Tu-154 M, crashed. Of course, it had to shake the foundations of the agreement, although the transaction was completed until the end. In 1988, another four Tu-154 M were delivered; SP-LCE, SP-LCF, SP-LCG, SP-LCH. In 1989, another three Tu-154 M; SP-LCI, SP-LCK, SP-LCL. In 1990, two more Tu-154 M; SP-LCM, SP-LCN. In 1991, another Tu-154 M SP-LCO appeared, but it ended up in the Polish Army.
The Tu-154 planes were delivered to Poland, and among the management of PLL LOT and the Polish Government there was a discussion about what to do with them, and more precisely how to get rid of them. Poland was undergoing social and political changes and society was only about to come up with the right technique. The more so because the Boeing 767 was doing great at LOT. The only argument of the opponents were the financial losses that PLL LOT, and more specifically the society, will suffer after selling the unwanted machines. However, it turned out very quickly that even selling the planes for half their value would make Poland its own way, not to mention a possible plane crash.
A decision was made to put the machines up for sale. LOT ended scheduled Tu-154 M flights in 1993, and occasional charter flights in 1996. The planes were disposed of and most of them ended up in Russia. After all, compared to their Tu-154, they had a much better standard of workmanship and equipment. Dread to think what they’re flying there.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman