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Saturday, 17 April 2010

Okęcie before the funerals

Volcanic ash has totally halted passenger air travel over Poland and much of Europe. Yet with the state funeral in Kraków tomorrow of President Lech Kaczyński and his wife, there has been much military activity over Okęcie airport today.

Above: A PZL W3S Sokół helicopter, from the 36th Special Aviation Regiment. Tactical number 0916.

Below: A Yakovlev Yak-40 (NATO reporting name: Codling), from the 36th Special Aviation Regiment. Short- and medium-range VIP transport. Tactical number 045.

Below: CASA 295M, one of four landings I saw today. Like the other 19 CASAs in service with the Polish air force (one crashed at Mirosławiec in January 2008), this one - tactical number 014 - belongs to the 13th Air Transport Squadron based at Kraków-Balice airport. One of these brought the body of President Kaczyński back from Russia last Sunday; I guess that one will be flying the coffin from Warsaw to Kraków tomorrow morning.

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1 comment:

  1. Mike17 April 2010 at 20:47

    The Yak-40 is another aircraft with a very poor safety record, although it has been around for a while now.

    I hear some of the aircraft flying dignitaries to Kraków tomorrow will be flying to Okęcie for holding due to lack of space at Balice. I may sneak to Obi during the day for a couple of hours if my wife permits... :)

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