1951 LOT Lisunov Li-2 crash
LOT Polish Airlines Lisunov Li-2 · Engine failure, loss of control
From Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport (LCJ) to Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 18 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 18
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Lisunov Li-2
- Aircraft type
- Lisunov LI-2
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- SP-LKA
- Operator
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 18
- Route
- From Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport (LCJ)To Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK)
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1951 LOT Lisunov Li-2 crash 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. It was the first LOT aircraft crash since the end of World War II.
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. All 15 passengers and 3 crew died. The Captain of the flight was Marian Buczkowski, father of Polish actor Zbigniew Buczkowski.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The official cause of the disaster was attributed to bad weather conditions (low clouds and fog) and pilot error. However, an independent investigation conducted by journalists claimed that the cause was different, due to a lack of documentation in LOT archives.
The Li-2 flew in from Szczecin that day and after landing Buczkowski pointed out that one of the engines may have been faulty and refused to continue flying because he did not want to endanger the lives of the passengers.
A Ministry of Public Security officer entered the cockpit, calling him an "imperial reactionary" and stating that his behavior was a provocation. The officer stressed that a high-ranking officer urgently needed to get to Kraków and accused him of being friends with the pilots of the Royal Air Force. Buczkowski calmly emphasized again that he refused to fly because he did not want to endanger the lives of the passengers, but at this the officer drew his pistol and held it to Buczkowski's head. After arming the pistol, he gave a choice to Buczkowski: continue flying or be shot. Buczkowski asked first officer Bakalus to gather the rest of the crew and announced that they would be continuing to Kraków. Buczkowski reluctantly got back on the plane.
Due to the faulty engine the plane stalled, tipped over the power lines and crashed into a field.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1951 LOT Lisunov Li-2 crash” (revision 1363512670, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1951 LOT Lisunov Li-2 crash
- Article
- 1951 LOT Lisunov Li-2 crash
- Revision
- 1363512670 · 2026-07-10 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q11737195
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1951 LOT Lisunov Li-2 crash" (page 39673540, revision 1363512670)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an airline in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.