The twin-engine M28 Bryza transport plane crashed yesterday afternoon as it approached landing at the Babie Doły airstrip on the outskirts of Gdynia. It had been taking part in a training exercise and flying on one engine.

Report by Elzbieta Krajewska.

The crash killed all four on board: two experienced pilots, a trainee and a technician. The plane had been 12 years old. Defence Minister Bogdan Klich ordered all Bryza aircraft grounded and said that the causes of the accident were immediately put under investigation of a special military commission.

Navy pilots are said to be among the army’s best. But the whole picture may not be that good… Recent press reports blamed the Polish military for its savings programme that cut down on hours of air training. An army career is no longer attractive for pilots in Poland, more and more often lured away by better conditions, not to mention pay, provided by commercial airlines. Also, some queries have been raised over the age of the Polish airborne fleet, not long ago joined by 40-year-old US-made Hercules transport planes.

A little over a year ago the crash of a CASA transport plane killed all twenty airmen on board and was Poland’s worst military air disaster since WW2. The commission investigating yesterday’s crash of the Bryza may take months to officially determine its cause. These planes have been used by the Polish Army for twenty years. So far, only one other M28 has crashed - in Venezuela, because of a piloting error.

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