Anger in the Polish Air Force over unfair criticism of a deceased pilot

On Thursday, August 28, Major Maciej "Slab" Krakowian died in a tragic accident when his F-16 fighter crashed in Radom, Poland.

This is how Polish aviator Maciej Krakowian flew: he died in Radom piloting his F-16
The first flights of Polish pilots on F-35A Husarz fighters acquired by Poland

The crash of the F-16 Tiger Demo Team Poland is still under investigation. In fact, all air accidents require considerable time to be analyzed, in order to have all the elements and evidence necessary to understand their causes. Despite this, many people rush to make easy and critical judgments without waiting for the results of these investigations, which adds even more pain to the terrible situation experienced by the families of the deceased pilots.

This is precisely what happened in the case of Maciej "Slab" Krakowian (above), the experienced Polish Air Force pilot (he had over 1,400 flight hours, including around 1,200 in the F-16) who died in the crash in Radom. Many people, including many aviation enthusiasts, have jumped to the plate with unfounded opinions, as is sadly common in the case of air crashes. Ultimately, this has caused great anger within the Polish Air Force, which has to consider such criticism of a colleague who has just lost his life, leaving a widow and two orphaned children.

This anger has been expressed by Major General Ireneusz Nowak, Inspector of the Air Force at the General Command of the Armed Forces. In an interview published by the military daily Polska Zbrojna, Nowak has expressed an opinion that will surely be shared by many Polish airmen and that makes clear the level of anger caused by such criticism, since military commanders tend to be very restrained when it comes to expressing themselves in public.

Asked about the "carousel of conjecture, speculation and ad hoc theories" that has followed Slab's death, Nowak says:

"No one deserves to die deprived of their privacy, under the spotlight, and then broadcast on every television channel. As an officer, but also as a citizen, I wonder where the ethics are in this country. What happened to those who disrespect the family, disrespect us, and do all this? This question must be asked out loud. Even before the tape recorder was analyzed, the verdicts had already been issued, and the "experts" knew what had happened... It's incredibly sad.

The hatred Maciek received is unacceptable. He was a great pilot, a great officer, a patriot. He didn't do it for money; he did it for us. He did more for Poland than many people do in their entire lives. You can't insult people like him!"

Major General Nowak adds: "After the disaster at the previous air show, I told Polska Zbrojna that there seemed to be too many of them. Especially in these difficult times, when pilots have so much on their plate. They immediately called me a "military clique" who would gladly ban all air shows. I don't want to deal with people like that, with these pseudo-aviation enthusiasts who are with us when everything is going well, and if something happens, they are the first to judge."

Nowak openly confesses how he feels: "I'm bitter because these behaviors were unworthy of a man of integrity and honesty like Maciek... Of course, we also received many words of support. I appreciate them all, but unfortunately, the negative ones have a greater impact. They resonate and are stronger. They leave the deepest scars."

Personally, I can't help but share Major General Nowak's complaints. In our society, there seem to be people who are experts in all sorts of things, who have opinions on everything without having any knowledge of almost anything, and who judge others harshly without having the necessary elements to make a balanced judgment. In the aviation world, this is already all too common. The anger within the Polish Air Force is entirely understandable and should lead to reflection on the waves of unfounded comments that follow every air accident.

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Photos: Wojsko Polskie / Polska Zbrojna.