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| Date: | Friday 6 July 2018 |
| Time: | 02:57 |
| Type: |  Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29G |
| Owner/operator: | Polish Air Force |
| Registration: | 4103 |
| MSN: | 2960526301/3705 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Sakówko, Elbląg County, Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship -
 Poland
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Malbork Military Air Base (EPMB) |
| Malbork Military Air Base (EPMB) |
On the night of 5 July 2018, a Polish Air Force MiG-29 fighter aircraft of the 41st Aviation Squadron, 22nd Tactical Air Base, 1st Tactical Aviation Wing took off from the 22nd Tactical Air Base (EPMB) in Malbork to take part in a night training exercise. The aircraft was piloted by Porucznik Krzysztof Sobański, a 33 year old pilot with extensive flight experience in the MiG-29.
After 1pm over Braniewo, Sobański reported that the aircraft was rapidly losing fuel and would be unable to return to the airbase at Malbork. The aircraft had reportedly lost 3 tonnes of fuel in minutes. When the aircraft reached a distance of 18km from Malbork near the village of Sakówko, Sobański informed the controller that he would eject from the aircraft. At this time the inhabitants of Sobański heard a large bang shortly after. Sobański ejected from the aircraft, but did not survive. Emergency services reportedly found the body of Sobański 200m from the wreck of the aircraft, still fastened in to his NPP Zvezda K-36 ejection seat. Former Polish Air Force pilot and Inspector Generał Brygady Tomasz Julian Drewniak, stated that the K-36 ejector seat is considered one of the safest ejector seats in the world, describing the system as "a top life saving system for pilots". As a result it was evident that while the ejector seat had successfully catapulted itself away from the aircraft, its parachute failed to deploy, and its seat failed to separate from the pilot.
Representatives of the State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation (PKBWL) arrived at the crash site on 6 July 2018. Polish Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak announced that an investigation into the crash would begin, and all MiG-29 flights would be grounded for the time being. Shortly after, the Polish Air Force additionally suspended operations of the Soviet era Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bomber, leaving the American origin F-16 Fighting Falcon as the only operational combat aircraft in Poland. These aircraft both use the Russian origin K-36 ejection seat.
Polish news outlet Onet reported that a primary contributing contributing factor to the crash had been a result of insufficient maintenance and unverified repairs performed at Military Aviation Works No. 2 in Bydgoszcz. The first Polish MiG-29 aircraft were inducted into the Polish Air Force in 1989, when the country was still a member of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, informally known as the Warsaw Pact. Several more aircraft were delivered in the 1990s-2000s from Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as several more aircraft from the Czech Republic and the newly unified Germany. Aircraft modification and maintenance was originally carried out at Bydgoszcz in cooperation with Russian engineers, but this later deteriorated following the breakdown of political relations between Russia and Poland. WZL2 Bydgoszcz reportedly attempted to acquire third-party spare parts from Belarus, Ukraine, India and Israel, but this resulted in substandard parts being implemented in the aircraft.
In 2011, Polish Air Force MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-22 aircraft underwent an overhaul at WZL2 Bydgoszcz. In order to extend the lifecycle of the K-36 ejection seats, several parts were replaced, including the seats ejection rings. However, these rings were not original parts acquired from the Russian company NPP Zvezda.
Onet reported that WZL2 Bydgoszcz had arbitrarily made a non-verified ring responsible for firing the parachute in the headrest. The material from which this ring was made was three times more durable than the original OEM part. During the ejection phase, an explosion breaks the ring, causing the parachute to deploy and jettisoning the seat. If the ring strenth was too high, it could cause the explosion to be unable to break the ring, thus not deploying the parachute.
Additionally, due to the breakdown of relations between Poland and Russia, Polish engineers did not receive up to date service bulletins from either NPP Zvezda, or Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG". The President of WZL in an interview with Onet repeatedly emphasized that all modifications were made on the basis of documentation approved by the Polish Ministry of National Defence.
Former Commander of the Polish Land Forces and Deputy Minister of Defence Generał Broni Waldemar Skrzypczak stated in an interview: "If there are changes in the ejection seats, factory tests and checking documentation are not enough, as the seat is life-saving equipment. In this case, the Armed Forces Support Inspectorate should commission tests to the Air Force Technical Institute (ITWL). From here new certificates should be issued before the aircraft can return to units after repairs. If this did not happen, then there was a gross breach of procedures when receiving the aircraft." It was confirmed that the Air Force Technical Institute had not participated in the modification. In fact, tests would only be conducted after the crash had occurred, at the proving grounds in Nadarzyce, with the involvement of the Military Institute of Armaments. However, the testing methodology for these tests was considered flawed by some commentators, with a lack of real world variables considered.
Podpułkownik Tomasz Łyżwa, a former Su-22 and F-16 pilot voiced his opinions on the test:
"I call it a test kindergarten. For me these tests have no credibility"
In May 2019, the Polish Ministry of National Defence completed its report into the circumstances of the accident. However, this report was not released to the public for a sizable period of time. On the other hand, the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) concluded that "the production of rings began in 2011 on the basis of documentation prepared in WZL2", thus confirming Onet's report that the facility did not use the original Russian documentation. It was additionally confirmed that Sobański had acted in an ideal manner without error.
They stated: "Today we know that in 2011 an error was made at the stage of detail design, which was not detected in the process of checking and implementing parts for production. After the MIG-29 plane crash in which the pilot died, WZL-2 carried out an internal audit to examine the circumstances of entering the ring in 2011. The material was handed over to the prosecutor's office. The employment relationship was terminated with people directly involved in the design process of this ring."
In July 2022, the Polish Ministry of National Defence announced that the South Korean origin FA-50 light fighter would be acquired, to urgently replace the remaining MiG-29 and Su-22 aircraft, citing reliability concerns. The American F-16 was dismissed as an option, as Lockheed Martin was unable to supply aircraft in such a short timeframe.
Sources:
http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/371679,Pilot-dies-in-fighter-jet-crash-in-southeastern-Poland
https://www.tvn24.pl/mig-29-rozbil-sie-pod-paslekiem,851557,s.html
https://fakty.interia.pl/polska/news-katastrofa-mysliwca-mig-29-pod-paslekiem,nId,2603161
https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/mig-29-rozbil-sie-pod-paslekiem-pilot-nie-przezyl/b0bm66f
https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/fotel-smierci-dlaczego-zginal-kapitan-sobanski-tajemnica-katastrofy-mig-29/newy4mv
https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/polska-grupa-zbrojeniowa-potwierdza-blad-ktory-doprowadzil-do-smierci-pilota-mig-29/nejxyh5
https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/tajny-raport-mon-potwierdza-informacje-onetu-pilota-mig-29-zabila-dzika-modyfikacja/8sw30nq
Location
Media:
#PILNE | MiG-29 rozbił się pod Pasłękiem. Pilot nie przeżył.
— tvn24 (@tvn24) 6 июля 2018 г.
Szczegóły w @tvn24:https://t.co/uxPK2xoA74 pic.twitter.com/or24S7gODD
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Jul-2018 06:47 | gerard57 | Added |
| 06-Jul-2018 07:23 | gerard57 | Updated [Date, Time, Narrative, ] |
| 06-Jul-2018 08:26 | sinfu2a | Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, Embed code, ] |
| 06-Jul-2018 18:56 | hexatus | Updated [Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 06-Jul-2018 19:37 | hexatus | Updated [Embed code, ] |
| 18-Nov-2019 18:25 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, ] |
| 08-Jun-2024 09:37 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ] |
| 08-Jun-2024 10:02 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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