One of the two pilots of the police Black Hawk, who broke the power line during a picnic near Sarnowa Góra during a very low flight, had a conviction in the past for causing a military helicopter crash, the tvn24.pl portal found out unofficially. In the police, he was first responsible for flight safety, and now for pilot training. – He is a great pilot – says one of our interlocutors from the police headquarters. – He should never be responsible for flight safety and training, which he proved again in Sarnowa Góra – adds our other interlocutor related to the police aviation.
To celebrate the 103rd anniversary of the Battle of Sarnowa Góra, one of the three police Black Hawks was sent to the picnic organized on this occasion. During a very low flight, it hit a power line grounding, causing spectators to panic.
According to our unofficial information, confirmed by several independent sources, one of the two pilots from the crew of three had a conviction in the past for causing a plane crash.
It is about the events of February 28, 2009, which took place at the training ground of the artillery training center in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. The crew of the military Mi-24 was preparing for the mission in Afghanistan, practicing shooting using night vision. The helicopter hit the treetops, crashed into the ground, and the co-pilot, 32-year-old Lieutenant Robert Wagner, was killed.
The military prosecutor’s office in Bydgoszcz examined this tragic accident and finally accused the first pilot of, among others, that he violated air traffic safety rules by flying below the minimum safe altitude. The pilot was also alleged to have made a mistake by focusing too much on finding the firing target, while losing his orientation in the airspace.
During the trial, the pilot pleaded guilty, he applied for the sentence that was finally issued by the military garrison court in Gdynia: two years in prison, suspended for five years.
Mi-24 crashTVN24
Back to uniform
Our interlocutors related to the police aviation told us that the same pilot at the turn of 2015 and 2016 went to the “police aviation board”. First he worked as a “flight safety instructor”, then he was entrusted with training police pilots.
– It’s a blessing in disguise that this flight on the anniversary celebrations only ended like this. But this serious incident is simply a consequence of such and no other personnel decisions – points out one of our interlocutors.
– He is a great pilot, at the time of his admission to the police, the sentence was already erased – one of the high-ranking officers of the police headquarters tells us.
Another of our interlocutors adds: – There have been no such serious incidents so far, so it’s hard to say that the police aviation system is in bad hands.
We officially asked a series of questions to the National Police Headquarters, but we have not received an answer by the time of publication.
RMF FM radio was the first to report the pilot’s verdict.
Prosecutor’s Office: very preliminary stage of the proceedings
The prosecutor’s office has not yet announced who was at the controls of the helicopter. Deputy District Prosecutor Piotr Tyszka from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Ciechanów reported that, according to preliminary findings, there were three people on board the helicopter. “However, as to the details of this flight, who was piloting it or what was the division of duties (…), only to be determined at a later stage” – he added.
When asked on Monday afternoon about reports on the verdict of one of the pilots, Tyszka reserved that “there is no information about this at the moment”. “These types of circumstances will be investigated,” he said, emphasizing that for now it was “a very preliminary stage of the proceedings.”
The investigation into the incident in Sarnowa Góra “was initiated in the direction of Article 174 paragraph 1 of the Penal Code, that is, causing an imminent danger of a catastrophe in air traffic” by the helicopter pilots.
[Prosecutor]From what has been established, the crew consisted of three people. Who piloted (…) will be determined at a later stageTVN24
Minister’s support
The National Police Headquarters did not answer our questions about how one of the three police Black Hawks was sent to the celebrations of the Battle of Sarnowa Góra. We asked whose application and when the helicopter was sent there.
As we checked, the helicopter was not present at the previous celebrations – the 102nd, 101st or even the 100th anniversary of the battle.
In the photographs and in the reports from previous ceremonies, the deputy minister of internal affairs and administration is also missing Maciej Wasik. We asked him if he was involved in any way in bringing Black Hawk. We have not received a reply.
The anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Sarnowa Góra are held in the region which is part of the constituency from which Wąsik was running for the Sejm. According to unofficial information, also this year elections will be running for a seat in that constituency.
“Thanks to the support of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration and Minister Maciej Wąsik, the main attraction of the day will be the Black Hawk police helicopter. Arrival can be expected between 1.30 pm and 4.30 pm” – informed the mayor of the Sońsk commune, Jarosław Muchowski, on the ciechanowinacza.pl portal, encouraging the inhabitants of the region to appear at the party.
Hello Minister!
Interestingly, in previous years it played a major role in these celebrations Ministry of National Defence and the army. In 2016, the publicity of Sarnowa Góra was ensured by the then spokesman for the Minister of National Defense, Bartłomiej Misiewicz. At that time, he represented Minister Antoni Macierewicz, and the soldiers saluted him as if he were a minister himself.
The spokesman and the head of the political cabinet were first greeted with the sounds of a solemn “General’s March” and made a report beginning with the words “Mr. Minister”. At the memorial plaque, Misiewicz greeted the soldiers, and they chorused again, “Hello, Mr. Minister.”
Main photo source: Christopher Lasocki