The tragedy of TS-11 nb 0410 near Pionki on 03/09/1974.
WEDNESDAY, April 13, 2011.
INTERRUPTED FLIGHT.
Contrary to appearances, this will not be another material about the presidential plane crash near Smolensk. However, it will directly refer to aviation. Our city witnessed two military plane crashes. For the pilots, it was the last flight of their lives. Today we are going back to those events. Who remembers today that the forests surrounding our city hide tragic events that have become part of the history of Polish aviation? Who exactly remembers where the planes crashed today? Military airplanes have become a grave for two pilots.
It was 1974. At the controls of the PZL TS 11 Iskra plane with the side number 0410 sat senior corporal, cadet Andrzej Szelka. He was on his test flight, which ended his flight training. It was a pass to be included in the rank of military pilots. Unfortunately, it was also the last flight in his life. He took off from the Radom-Sadków military airport. However, before we go to the crash itself, we will present a brief historical outline of the airport itself. The beginnings of the aviation in Radom date back to 1927, when an airport was created on Sadków. Until the outbreak of World War II, it was the base of the Pilot School Squadron, the Reserve Pilot School and the Reserve Aviation Cadet School. From the spring of 1945, the 15th Reserve Aviation School Regiment was located in Radom, and six years later the Officer Aviation School No. 5, training fighter pilots, was established there. In 1964, the regiment was the first to start operating a new type of the TS-11 Iskra training aircraft, previously the pilots were trained on UTMiG-15, Lim-1, Junak-3 and TS-8 Bies aircraft. In 1994, the first school Eaglets appeared in Radom, gradually replacing Iskry, which was finally withdrawn from the regiment in 1997. Further organizational changes took place at the end of the 1990s and were related to the restructuring of the "School of Eaglets" in Dęblin. In December 2000, the regiment was dissolved and in its place, the 2nd Aviation Training Center was established. The airport in Radom, as well as practically every other, apart from the days of glory and splendor, had to taste the tragic events. Already eight years after the airport was built, the first tragic disaster took place. In 1935, Stanisław Kręgiel did not return from another flight. He died on August 14, 1935 while performing an independent training flight on a Hanriot H 19 plane.
By September 1939, three more pilots had died in the crashes. On the day of the outbreak of the war, Lieutenant pilot Wincenty Nałęcz died while piloting the Lublin R XIII plane while flying the airport. Let us now return to the catastrophe, which was written in the history of military aviation as the "crash of the military training plane in Pionki". It was the third of September 1974. Senior Corporal Officer Cadet pilot Andrzej Szelka was a third-year student of the Higher Officer Aviation School in Dęblin – student pilot of 60 Lpsz in Radom, 1st school squadron. On the fatal day, the TS 11 Iskra made the first solo flight to the zone, which was qualified as an examination flight. During the flight in the zone, the plane collided with the ground at a very high speed, the pilot did not eject and died.
After returning from the test flight, the pilot, without reporting any problems beforehand, collided with the ground at a speed of 700 km / h, killing himself – this is how this catastrophe was written in military jargon. At the time of his death, senior cadet corporal Andrzej Szelka was twenty-four years old.
Currently, there is a small monument on the site of the tragedy. It is situated in the middle of the forest and reaching it is very difficult. The representative of our editorial office managed to do this thanks to a unique map drawn literally on his knee by one of the employees of the forest district office. Unfortunately, the monument itself is in a rather poor condition. The slab, which is the main part of a small monument, requires refreshing. The cross is in an equally bad condition. It just needs to be replaced.
However, the tragic aviation events related to our city do not end with this catastrophe. Another air accident, this time in the nearby Przeździerze, took place thirteen years after the disaster in 1974.
After the student ejected, the instructor was shocked by the cockpit cover and gunpowder gases and was unable to leave his cabin. Lt. Col. Cisiński was killed – this is how the military archives describe the catastrophe succinctly. The tragedy happened on June 15, 1987. The plane TS 11 Iskra, number 0105, carried Lt. Col. Kazimierz Cisiński and a student of the Captain of the Captain. Dariusz Borowiec.
On June 15, 1987, Lt. Col. Cisiński made a flight to the zone with a student to learn how to lead in and out of the spin. The crew could not get out of the next spin, and the student pilot catapulted safely. Probably during the ejection of the student from the 1st cabin, Lt. Col. Cisiński suffered injuries which prevented him from safely leaving the plane. The plane crashed into the ground, the pilot was killed. Posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel – we read in turn in one of the aviation studies.
Colonel pilot Kazimierz Cisiński was born in 1936. In 1960 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and became a military pilot. In his aviation career, he was an instructor pilot, senior pilot, key commander, deputy squadron commander and squadron commander. He was a master class pilot, he had a flight time of 4730 hours, including 3273 hours on TS-11 "Iskra". He performed flights on many types of aircraft: CSS-13, Jak-18, Jak-11, Junak 3, TS-8 "Bies", UTMiG-15, Lim-1, Lim-2, An-2, TS-11 "Iskra ". He has flown a lot and willingly, he has trained many generations of students. In the air of aviation such pilots are called "Pilots of flesh and blood". He is understanding and demanding, a good organizer of flight training. He systematically raised his qualifications, in 1982 he graduated from engineering studies at WOSL, in 1985 he graduated from UMCS in Lublin. Married, wife Wiktoria, son Jacek and daughter Ewa. The son continues the family traditions, he is an officer – he wears a steel uniform.
On March 26, last year, a plaque was unveiled in the garrison church in Radom, commemorating the pilots who took off from the Radom airport in the years 1935-2009 and died. There are a total of thirty-two names on it. The list of victims is opened by a private student, Stanisław Kręgiel, who died in 1935, and closed by two Belarusian pilots, Colonels Aleksander Marficki and Aleksander Żurawlewicz, victims of the Su-27 plane crash on August 30, 2009. In front of them there are the names of the pilots of the Żelazny Aerobatic Group, who died during the show at the earlier edition of AIR SHOW, on September 1, 2007: Lt. res. pil. Lech Marchelewski and eng. pil. Piotr Banachowicz. The plaque was officially unveiled by, among others, the then commander of the Air Force, General Andrzej Błasik, who died several days later in the presidential plane crash near Smolensk.
The material was collected and processed by ROMAN FIDO