Badanie Black Hawka: przesłuchanie byłych szefa policji i wiceministra MSWiA.

Incident involving a police Black Hawk helicopter that tore off a lightning rod from a power line near people observing the flyover took place on August 20, 2023 during a picnic to mark the 103rd anniversary of the Battle of Sarnowa Mountain near Ciechanów. A former Chief of Police, Jarosław Szymczyk, and former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, Maciej Wąsik, are scheduled to be interrogated in the near future, announced the spokesperson of the Płock District Prosecutor’s Office, Prosecutor Iwona Śmigielska-Kowalska. Following these interrogations, a decision will likely be made to appoint an aviation expert to provide a comprehensive opinion on the entire body of evidence gathered in the case.

Śmigielska also mentioned that, at the request of the Płock District Prosecutor’s Office, the results of a control conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration regarding the incident involving the police Black Hawk helicopter have been received. Minister Marcin Kierwiński (Civic Coalition) presented the results of the control at the end of March. He stated that the role of former Deputy Minister Maciej Wąsik (Law and Justice) in the case was „clear and obvious,” as he reportedly urged the Chief of Police, against his initial opinion, to use the Black Hawk helicopter „in a manner inconsistent with its intended use.” A notification from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration regarding the suspicion of exceeding authority was sent to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw in late March, which initiated verification proceedings.

Maciej Wąsik served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration from 2019-2023, while Inspector General Jarosław Szymczyk was the Chief of Police from 2016-2023 and is currently retired. Following the incident involving the police Black Hawk helicopter in August 2023, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Płock initiated an investigation into the direct endangerment of air traffic. The investigation was later transferred to the Płock District Prosecutor’s Office. In October 2023, a special three-person team of prosecutors with experience in investigating aviation accidents was appointed.

At this stage of the investigation, data from the helicopter’s black box, including recordings of the crew’s conversations and instructions during the flight, as well as the flight parameters of the aircraft, have been analyzed with the assistance of an aviation expert. An estimate of repair costs exceeding 280,000 PLN has been obtained from Energa, a subsidiary of the Orlen Group, as a result of the passage of the helicopter. As part of the ongoing investigation, the Płock District Prosecutor’s Office has collected documentation related to the police Black Hawk helicopter, including the flight logbook, as well as documentation related to the crew of the aircraft. Two site inspections and inspections of the helicopter have been conducted, along with examinations of the severed lightning rod cable as a result of the propeller blade strike.

At the end of August 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration reported that the police Black Hawk helicopter struck the lightning rod of the power line, causing it to be torn off, shortly after taking off on the return flight from Sarnowa Góra to Warsaw. The State Aviation Accident Investigation Commission was notified of the incident. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration then provided a written report on the incident to the Sejm Commission on Administration and Internal Affairs. According to Article 174 of the Penal Code, those who directly endanger the risk of a catastrophe in land, water, or air traffic are subject to imprisonment for a period of six months to eight years. If the perpetrator acts negligently, they may face imprisonment for up to three years.
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