Kępno 2024-01-25
Author – Retired Major pilot Janusz Smiatacz.
The tragedy of MiG-21 PF nb 2405 no. 762405 from 1st PLM Warsaw on June 30, 1966.
We are posting an article that was published in “Tygodnik Kępiński” No. 4/2010 on 28.01.2010. The author of the article is retired major pilot Janusz Smiatacz.
Description of the photo: On such an aircraft, MiG-21 PF, lieutenant pilot Władysław BETKA died.
On 23 January 2008, near the military airport in Mirosławiec, the CASA 295 aircraft crashed, burying 20 Polish military pilots under its remains. Several of my friends died. Several friends were lucky. They got off earlier in Powidz and Krzesiny. Television, radio and the internet are full of various comments, eyewitness accounts, speculations and photos from the crash site. The president declared national mourning. Publicity and media hype. This is how it is now, but a dozen or so years ago… THIS WASN’T TALKED ABOUT! During the “cold war” none of the conflicting parties wanted to make public the military aircraft crashes that had occurred. These events were treated as a kind of small defeats and usually classified the course of the investigation into the causes, results and conclusions from these crashes. Now, after many, many years and after a complete change in the geopolitical and military situation, it is possible to learn more about the past. I would like to particularly interest readers in two of the many crashes that occurred in the post-war history of Polish military aviation, because their sad heroes were “ours” – people from our region.
Pilot from Feliksów.
The first of these was the crash of a MiG-21 aircraft from the 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment in Mińsk Mazowiecki. It took place on June 30, 1966. The year is significant here, because at that time these supersonic, very modern fighters had only been in service with the Polish Air Force for five years. Many pilots were just getting to know this aircraft, with completely different aerodynamic characteristics than those previously known to them (delta-shaped wings) and with increased piloting and combat capabilities, which sometimes led to major problems in piloting this type of aircraft.
The pilot of the MiG-21 that crashed was Lieutenant Władysław BETKA, Stanisław’s son, born on January 21, 1939, in FELIKSÓW near Kępno. He was a graduate of the Officers’ Aviation School in Radom in 1962. In 1966, he held the position of senior pilot of the pursuit squadron in the 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment. He was already a first class pilot, but most of his flying time was in older types of jet aircraft.
On that fateful day, he took off as part of a pair, as the “leader” from the airport in Mińsk Mazowiecki. The flight took place in the so-called DTWA (Day – Difficult Atmospheric Conditions). After takeoff, he had to, according to the task, penetrate the clouds upwards, maintaining visual contact with the plane of his “leader”. While penetrating the clouds, he lost sight of the “leader’s” plane, so in accordance with the procedure, he moved to the right to avoid a mid-air collision. Unfortunately, during this maneuver, he probably lost spatial orientation (a dangerous situation in a flight with limited visibility, in clouds or at night, when the pilot does not know in what position the aircraft is in relation to the ground) and the plane fell down uncontrolled. The pilot tried to save himself using the ejection seat, but he did it too low and not all the mechanisms opening the parachute had time to work. The plane collided with the ground in the area of the town of Olszyna, and the pilot died on the spot. Lieutenant Władysław BETKA was buried in the parish cemetery in BARANÓW.
Pilot from Kuźnica Stara.
The second disaster I would like to write about was more spectacular. Probably because very important passengers also died in it, including the then Minister of Internal Affairs Wiesław Ociepka and several high-ranking officers of the Polish Army and the allied Czechoslovak Army. Therefore, it was not without informing the public about the accident, but it was very laconic, without any unnecessary comments or delving into the subject!
The disaster occurred on February 28, 1973, at 10:53 p.m. in front of the runway of the military airport in Goleniów near Szczecin. It is important in my considerations because the second pilot of the five-person crew of the An-24 transport aircraft that crashed at that time was Captain Kazimierz MARCZAK, son of Stanisław, also a man from here, born on January 4, 1939 in KUŹNICA STARA, OSTRZESZÓW district.
He was a very experienced pilot, a graduate of the Officer Aviation School in Radom in 1960. He flew over 3,500 hours on various types of transport and liaison aircraft. He served as senior pilot of the 1st Transport Squadron of the 36th Special Air Regiment in Warsaw. Just before midnight on February 28, 1973, the An-24 aircraft with its crew and important passengers began to approach for landing at the airport in Goleniów. At a distance of 3 km from the beginning of the runway, it began to descend rapidly and unexpectedly. As a result of this descent, it collided with a wall of forest. According to the commission investigating this disaster, the sudden transition to descent must have been caused by some external factor. The most probable cause, which caused the flight disruption for a distance of no more than 1 kilometer, was the overlap of several very unfavorable factors: icing of the horizontal stabilizer and, additionally, very strong turbulence at a low approach speed with the flaps and landing gear already lowered (anyone who has flown or still flies can imagine what an unfavorable position the aircraft found itself in at that time!). In this particular situation, the crew, surprised by the sudden descent, was unable, despite clear efforts, to bring the aircraft into horizontal flight. It fell to the ground 2 kilometers before the beginning of the runway. The entire crew and important passengers died. Importantly, the commission investigating the accident did not find any piloting errors in the crew’s actions. All of them were later posthumously promoted to higher military ranks. Major pilot Kazimierz MARCZAK was buried at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.
Why am I writing about this? There are several reasons. First of all, I would like to interest readers in unknown events from the past, in which (sometimes unfortunately tragically) people from our region participated. Privately, I would also like to pay tribute with this article to all those Polish military pilots who died while performing their difficult duties, especially those whom I knew personally. The last reason is obvious… WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT NOW! Honor Their memory.
Retired Major Pilot Janusz Smiatacz.
Ps. To prepare the article, I used information from the study “In Memory of Military Airmen 1945 – 2003” – a collective work edited by Lt. Col. Dr. Józef Zieliński.