36th Special Aviation Regiment

36 Specjalny Pułk Lotnictwa Transportowego
150px 36 SPLT Logo
Active	1945–2011
Country	Poland
Allegiance	Polish Air Force
Type	Special Aviation Regiment
Role	VIP Transport, Transport
Part of	Regiment
Base:	1 Baza Lotnicza (1st Air Base) Warszawa district Okęcie
Commanders
Squadron Leader	Col. pilot (płk pil.) Mirosław Jemielniak
Aircraft flown
Utility helicopter	Bell 412, PZL W-3 Sokół, Mil Mi-8
Transport	Tu-154, Yak-40, PZL M28

File:Tupolev Tu-154M Poland - Air Force.jpg

VIP airliner Tupolev Tu-154M Lux at the airport in Zagreb

The 36 Specjalny Pułk Lotnictwa Transportowego 36 SPLT (English: 36th Special Regiment of Aviation Transport) was a special aviation regiment of the Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, established in 1945. All of its aircraft were for national public use, the most important being transport of Polish politicians and MON highest officials & forces commanders. It was headquartered at the 1st Air Base at Warsaw Frédéric Chopin Airport (formerly Okęcie). Between 1947 and 1974 it operated as Special Air Regiment, earlier as Government Transport Squadron. It was shut down in 2011 after the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash accident report found serious deficiencies in its organization and training, and its aircraft retired.

Accidents

• On 28 February 1973 a government airliner Antonov An-24W serial number 97305702 (tail number 012), crashed in Szczecin, north-west Poland. All 18 people on board were killed (including ministers of the interior of Poland and Czechoslovakia).
• On 4 December 2003 Mi-8 helicopter carrying Poland's Prime Minister Leszek Miller crashed near Warsaw, all people on board survived.

Main article: 2003 Polish Air Force Mi-8 crash

• On 10 April 2010 one of two Tupolev Tu-154 airplanes (serial number 90A-837; Polish aircraft PLF 101) crashed landing in fog at Smolensk North, Russia. All 96 on board died, including Poland's President Lech Kaczyński and 42 other officials en route to the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre nearby. The crash also took lives of the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army and most senior military commanding officers, the National Bank of Poland governor, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and dignitaries in the government, vice-speakers and members of the Senate of the Republic of Poland and Sejm of the Republic of Poland houses of the National Assembly of the Republic of Poland, and senior members of clergy of various denominations.

Main article: 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash

On 4 August 2011, the regiment was disbanded by the Polish Minister of National Defence as a direct consequence of the 2010 crash. The regiment officially ceased to exist on 31 December 2011; however, the 1st Air Transport Base continues to transport government VIPs by helicopter. Since then all Polish government officials have been using civil aircraft owned by LOT Polish Airlines, mainly two Embraer 175 operated exclusively for government.

Equipment in 2011

Previously operated transport aircraft including Lisunov Li-2, Ilyushin Il-14, Antonov An-24 and Tupolev Tu-134.

Model	Origin	Picture	In Service
Tupolev Tu-154M Lux	Soviet Union	150px	1
Yakovlev Yak-40	Soviet Union	150px	4
PZL M28	Poland		3
PZL W-3 Sokół	Poland	150px	5
Bell 412	United States		1
Mi-8	Soviet Union	150px	7

References

• The Picture of the Polish Tu-154M Flight Crew as Expert-Flyers Emerges: The Crew Cleared of Any Wrongdoing, by Peter Czartoryski-Sziler for "Nasz Dziennik"