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The OV-10 Bronco F-AZKM in September 2022. (Photo © Gee Bee for WWN)north

The French-based OV‑10 Bronco, registered F‑AZKM and flown by Chuck Berry, was involved in a crash-landing yesterday morning in Lezno, Poland. Fortunately, available sources indicate that the pilot is quite shaken by the accident but otherwise unhurt.

The accident’s cause is unknown at this time. Videos are circulating online, showing the Bronco crash-landing with its gear retracted. The footage shows the aircraft suffered a substantial impact with heavy damage to the airframe.

Built in 1971, OV‑10 Bronco F‑AZKM is a former German air force aircraft that was used as a target tow. After being retired from military service, it was exported to France in 1991 and was not operational for several years before being restored to full airworthiness by the Musée Européen de l’Aviation de Chasse in Montélimar.

Returning to the skies in 1997, it was one of the very few airworthy Broncos still flying in Europe, and a regular participant in French and European airshows.

Sources :

• Footage on the crash-landing from Air Plus News on Facebook

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The T-28B Trojan BuNo 138179 registered OE-ESA (Photo C.J. van de Burgt (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))

We have just learned of the tragic crash of North American T-28B Trojan BuNo 138179 registered OE-ESA of the Austrian Flying Bull collection. The aircraft crashed in Jickovice  in the Czech Republic as it was returning from the Leźno airshow in Poland.

T-28B Bu138179 OE-ESA in 2018 ( Photo Pavel Vanka (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) )

Pilot Rainer Steinberger was killed in the accident and his passenger was injured and hospitalized in Prague. The cause of the accident is unknown at this time.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of Rainer Steinberger, and our best wishes to the survivor of this tragic accident.

Sources:

• ORF.at | Flugzeug der Flying Bulls abgestürzt, Pilot tot
• Denik.cz

21 June 2021 update : The name of the pilot and the status of the passenger have been made public.

Continue reading]]> Jerzy Główczewski, who is reported to have been the last surviving Polish fighter pilot of World War II, passed away in New York on 13 April 2020 aged 97.

Główczewski was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1922 and fled the country after the 1939 German and Soviet invasions. After pilot training, he was assigned to fly Spitfires with the Royal Air Force’s No 308 “City of Kraków” (Polish) Fighter Squadron.

After the war, he returned to Poland after a short stay in France and became an architect. He emigrated to the United States in the 1960s, where he pursued his career in architecture and wrote his memoirs in three volumes.

Our thoughts and prayers go to Jerzy Główczewski’s family and friends.

Jerzy Główczewski - the last Polish fighter pilot who fought in 308 Squadron

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Source : Radio Poland | Last Polish WWII fighter pilot dies in New York

Continue reading]]> Tadeusz Sawicz died on October 19, 2011. Born in 1914 in Warsaw, he joined the Polish air force in 1934 and fought the German invaders in 1939, flying P.11c fighters. After the fall of Poland, he joined France and began flying with Groupe de Chasse III/10 but had to flee to North Africa after the defeat.

He reached Great-Britain in time to take part in the Battle of Britain and flew with the RAF for the rest of the war. He was credited with 3 confirmed aerial victories and 3.5 damaged aircraft. He was commander of all three Polish Fighter Wings in the RAF.

After the war, Sawicz stayed in England before moving to Canada in 1957.

Sources:

• The Telegraph
• eHangar
• Legacy.com