The Monument to the Victims of the CASA C-295M Plane Crash

The monument dedicated to the victims of the plane crash of CASA C-295M 019 is located at the site of the tragedy, which took place on 23rd January 2008 at 7:07 p.m. There was the end of the flight carrying the participants of the 50th Flight Safety Conference of the Polish Armed Forces in Warsaw.  The CASA military plane took off from Warsaw-Okęcie airport at 4:51 p.m., then a 4-person crew and 41 passengers were on board. The first landing took place at Powidz airport where 10 passengers left the plane and the CASA headed to Poznań - Krzesiny airport, which was a destination place for the next 15 passengers and the plane took off at 6:24 p.m. heading for the airport in Mirosławiec. The flight proceeded correctly, but during landing the crew accidentally led to an excessive tilt of the aircraft that caused progressive loss of lift force, which, in turn, led to the rapid descent with a loss of direction in the final phase of the flight, and the collision with the ground.  The aircraft was destroyed, and the elements torn out of the airframe were scattered within the radius of about 50 metres. During the crash the aircraft fuel system became depressured, and fuel tanks were ruptured, and, consequently, fuel got inflamed as a result of the contact with the hot parts of the engine or electrical system short-circuits. At the time of the crash seven trees were felled. All the people on board were killed on the spot; there was no possibility to survive the collision of an aircraft with ground due to the magnitude of the forces. Rescue groups and two units of military firefighters of the 12th Air Base in Mirosławiec, and two units of volunteer firefighters from Miroslawiec appeared immediately after the disaster in less than eight minutes. A ground search group was also launched. At 8:20 p.m. firefighting action was finished, and at 8:30 p.m. the paramedics judged that none of those on board survived the crash. Four crew members and 16 passengers were killed.
A monument dedicated to the memory of 20 soldiers of the Air Force was unveiled on 30th March 2008 at the crash site of the transport aircraft CASA C-295 M. The main element is a boulder with the dimensions of 2 m x 1.8 m with a plaque with the names of all the soldiers who died tragically, placed on a stylised aircraft chessboard. The plaque also contains information about the disaster and the inscription reading 'lot, but not forgotten ... defeated not in battle, but by fate ... '. The monument has been set exactly at the crash site. On the left side of the boulder, a large wooden cross was put, and on the right side - the crashed aircraft ballast with the tactical number '019' that has survived.