1951 LOT Li-2 Tuszyn air disaster
The 1951 LOT Li-2 Tuszyn air disaster occurred on 15 November 1951 when a LOT Polish Airlines Lisunov Li-2 flew into power lines near Tuszyn, crashed and burst into flames. All 15 passengers and 3 crew died.[1] It was the first LOT aircraft disaster since the end of World War II.
 Two Li-2s, similar to the incident aircraft, at Warsaw Chopin Airport in 1947. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 15 November 1951 |
| Summary | Engine failure, loss of control |
| Site | Tuszyn, Poland 51°34′49″N 19°30′24″E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Lisunov Li-2 |
| Operator | LOT Polish Airlines |
| Registration | SP-LKA |
| Flight origin | Lublinek Airport |
| Destination | John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice |
| Passengers | 15 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 18 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Incident
On 15 November 1951 a LOT Lisunov Li-2 was en route from Łódź to Kraków–Balice. Shortly after take-off while flying through Górki Duże near Tuszyn it flew into power lines, crashed and went into flames.[2] All 15 passengers and 3 crew died. The Captain of the flight was Marian Buczkowski, father of Polish actor Zbigniew Buczkowski.[2] The official cause of the disaster was attributed to bad weather conditions (low clouds and fog) and pilot's error.[2]
According to a journalist investigation, due to lack of documentation in LOT archives, the events leading to the crash might have been different.[2] The Li-2 flew in from Szczecin that day and after landing Buczkowski pointed out that one of the engines may be faulty and refused to fly again.[2] Threatened with a pistol by a Security officer who wanted to get to Kraków he reluctantly agreed.[2] Due to the faulty engine the plane stalled, tipped over the power lines and crashed into a field.[2]
On 27 November 2010 an obelisk was erected to commemorate Captain Buczkowski, the crew and passengers.[2]
References
- Accident description for SP-LKA at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 12 July 2014.
- Przemysław Semczuk (2 August 2009). "Sprawa kapitana Buczkowskiego" (in Polish). Newsweek.pl. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.