General died in Polish C-295 crash

A general was among those who died aboard the C-295 crash in Poland.

General Andrzej Andrzejewski (pictured), age 46, had been commender of a tactical aircraft brigade at the Miroslawiec air base where the January 23 tragedy occurred. He was considered an "excellent jet pilot" who survived a 2003 shootdown when the Su-22 bomber he was flying during an exercise was accidently struck by a missile. "I was miraculously saved!" he exclaimed when a helicopter rescued him from the Baltic Sea. "I got a second life!"

Slovenia halts purchase of C-295

The Slovenian Defense Ministry "has halted plans" to purchase the EADS CASA C-295 transport plane, citing "the recent crash of the same type of aircraft in Poland," the STA news agency reports from Ljubljana.

The Defense Ministry had announced selection of the C-295 on January 18, only to reverse itself on January 29 after the Polish crash.

"In view of the accident, negotiations on the purchase of the € 30 m[illion] plane were halted only days after they began. The ministry said efforts to equip the Slovenian Armed Forces were being conducted with respect to high technical and other standards, including safety for army personnel," according to STA. Reuters, Aeronews, and Flight International carry similar reports.

Poland grounds its C-295 fleet

The Polish military has grounded its fleet of 10 EADS CASA C-295 medium transport planes, pending an investigation into the cause of the fatal crash of January 23, in which 20 officers and crew were killed.

Worst Polish air disaster since World War II

The January 23 crash of the military C-295M was "the worst military plane disaster in Poland since WWII."

That's how the Poland.pl news service terms the tragedy. President Lech Kaczynski visited the crash site and declared a national time of mourning.

Poland opens probe of C-295 crash

The Polish government has opened an official inquiry into the January 23 crash of a military C-295M transport, in which 16 passengers and 4 crewmen died. Reuters has the story.

C-295 crash claims 20 lives in Poland

A Polish military C-295 crashed January 23, killing all 20 on board. Among the dead were "16 senior members of the Polish air force," including a general, according to Polish Radio.

The cause of the crash was not immediately determined. The EADS-CASA plane was preparing to land in Miloslawiec, in northeast Poland. Polish officials say the nearly new C-295M was manufactured only last summer.

The officers were returning from an annual conference on aviation safety.

"This is the first kind of accident we see happening with this kind of aircraft. We are in contact with the Polish ministry of defense in order to give all the support they can need. We give our condolence and our sympathy to all in the air forces and the ministry and we are waiting," an EADS official says.

The plane can carry up to 71 troops or payloads of 9,250 kilos. The radio program quotes a Polish military magazine writer as describing the C-295M as follows: "Those Spanish aircraft are very heavily used in Polish Air Forces, especially for supplying Polish military contingent abroad, in Iraq and Afghanistan. This particular aircraft was one of the best we have and almost brand new - launched from the factory last summer. We are one of the main of this aircraft - so far we have bought 10 of them with 2 more to be received this year and we hope to buy another 4 in the coming years. It's a bigger loss that we could even expect."