Łódź 2022-11-17
Air crash near Tuszyn.
The tragedy of the Lisunow Li-2 SP-LKA aircraft happened on November 15, 1951. On that day, a plane belonging to PLL LOT was making a round-trip flight from Szczecin - Poznań - Łódź - Kraków, together with passengers who were getting off and on at individual airports. At that time, these were typical flights of PLL LOT aircraft. And these were two types of aircraft used by LOT Polish Airlines; Lisunow Li-2 and Douglas DC-3, very similar to each other, because Lisunow Li-2 was a license of the American Douglas DC-3 aircraft, developed before World War II. An important difference was the engines used, which were more powerful in the DC-3. The avionics were also a bit different.
The communist press reported that only Li-2 aircraft were operated at LOT Polish Airlines. In fact, LOT Polish Airlines had a total of 40 Li-2 machines in stock, but this number included 9 DC-3 machines. Li-2 P aircraft received registration SP-LA... Li-2 T aircraft received registration SP-LB... DC-3 aircraft were registered as Li-2 P, but received registration SP-LK... The aircraft referred to in the article had registration SP -LKA and was actually a Douglas DC-3 aircraft.
The aircraft with the registration SP-LKA had the serial number 2344200, which in Poland was changed to 18438505. The aircraft was bought for PLL LOT from American surplus and delivered in July 1946. His documents stated that in November 1951, it was damaged in Łódź and deleted. This damage was caused by the disaster near Tuszyn.
The plane took off on schedule from the Szczecin - Dąbie airport. After about 1 hour of flight, he landed at the Poznań-Ławica airport (210 km). A similar distance was covered to the Łódź - Lublinek airport. Shortly after the take-off to the third stage, to the Kraków-Rakowice airport, the plane crashed to the ground. The catastrophe took place near the town of Tuszyn, in the Łódź district, in the area of the village of Górki Duże. At a distance of 24 km from the launch site. There was low cloud ceiling and poor visibility. The immediate cause of the crash was the plane's catching on a high-voltage power line, which caused it to fall to the ground and catch fire.
Everyone on board the plane died in the crash; 16 people, including four crew members. Honor their memory! The captain on board the plane was pilot Marian Buczkowski, father of actor Zbigniew Buczkowski. Captain Marian Buczkowski was 33 years old and an experienced pilot. He flew over half a million kilometers in combat and passenger aircraft. He was a graduate of the famous pre-war School of Eaglets in Dęblin. He was the defender of Warsaw in September 1939, against the German plague. He was shot down over Warsaw and landed safely. Captain Marian Buczkowski in 1947 began piloting passenger planes at LOT Polish Airlines.
On an unlucky day, on a flight to Łódź, one of the plane's engines began to cut out and lose power. After landing, the captain reported engine problems to technicians. But there were no specialists for such engines at the airport. Only the engine oil was checked. The captain refused to continue the flight. Then an officer of the UB entered the action and, using a gun, forced the captain to take off. The pre-takeoff engine test went well and the plane took off. But shortly after take-off, the engine cut off, causing the plane to lose lift and crash into a power line at low altitude before crashing into a field. Presumably, the captain tried to make an emergency landing in a field, but there was a power line in the flight path, which the crew could not see in the fog.
According to communist propaganda, the cause of the crash was bad weather conditions and the pilot's error in choosing the flight altitude. No comment.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman