Investigation Summary
The aircraft, a Soviet-built Lisunov Li-2, had arrived in Łódź from Szczecin earlier that morning. Upon landing, Captain Marian Buczkowski reported a technical issue with one of the engines and refused to continue the scheduled leg to Kraków, citing safety concerns for his passengers. However, a high-ranking officer from the Polish Ministry of Public Security (UB) intervened, demanding transport to Kraków. According to witness accounts and later journalistic investigations, the officer accused Buczkowski of political provocation and sabotage, eventually drawing a pistol and threatening to shoot the captain if he did not fly. Under duress, Buczkowski ordered his crew to prepare for departure. Shortly after takeoff, the suspect engine failed, causing the aircraft to lose altitude and stall. The plane clipped power lines near the village of Górki Duże and crashed into a field, where it was consumed by fire. The incident remained largely suppressed or misrepresented in official records during the communist era, with the blame placed solely on the crew and weather conditions.
Final Conclusions
The official cause was recorded as pilot error and poor weather conditions (low clouds and fog). However, independent investigations and historical accounts conclude the primary cause was engine failure on an aircraft known by the crew to be unairworthy, exacerbated by the unlawful coercion of the flight crew by a security official.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Systems & Failure Modes
Shvetsov ASh-62 Engines
The Li-2 was powered by two radial engines; the failure of one shortly after takeoff led to a stall and loss of control.
Flight Command Authority
The standard pilot-in-command authority was subverted by armed intervention from a state security officer.
Interesting Facts
- 01This was the first fatal crash involving a LOT Polish Airlines aircraft after World War II.
- 02The Captain, Marian Buczkowski, was the father of the well-known Polish actor Zbigniew Buczkowski.
- 03The aircraft was a Lisunov Li-2, a Soviet-licensed version of the Douglas DC-3, with MSN 18438505.
- 04The airframe was manufactured in 1943.
- 05All 15 passengers and 3 crew members perished in the crash and subsequent fire.
- 06A memorial obelisk was erected at the crash site in 2010 to honor the victims.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Historical Commemoration
In 2010, an obelisk was erected to provide a public record of the event that had been obscured by official state narratives for decades.
Known Controversies & Unanswered Questions
Official vs. Independent Investigation
Reference ↗The official state report blamed pilot error and weather, but journalists and historians later uncovered evidence that the crew was forced to fly an unairworthy aircraft at gunpoint by a security officer.