On Tuesday, May 5, 2026, near the village of Osuchy in the Józefów Forest District, Lublin Voivodeship, a PZL Mielec M-18B Dromader firefighting aircraft, registration number SP-ZUT and serial number 1Z016-29, crashed during an operation to extinguish a fire in the Solska Forest. The pilot was killed at the scene.
Reference photos: Mieleckie Zakłady Lotnicze
The incident occurred in the evening near the village of Kozaki. At around 8:41 p.m., services lost contact with the pilot. The wreckage of the aircraft was found in a forest near Osuchy. The Fire Service confirmed the pilot’s death. Initially, there was information about a helicopter crash, but it was denied.
According to information from Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński, the pilot who died was experienced and highly qualified.
The aircraft belonged to Mieleckie Zakłady Lotnicze, part of the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation, which operates a fleet of Dromaders inherited from the former Agricultural Aviation Services Department (ZUA) Mielec. It had been chartered for firefighting operations by the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Warsaw and operated from Warsaw-Babice Airport (Bemowo), from where it took off at 7:10 p.m. on the fateful day. It belonged to a group of Dromaders that have been used for years to fight forest fires in Poland.
The Solska Forest fire, which broke out yesterday, is a crown fire affecting the treetops. It covered areas of Biłgoraj, Zamość, and Tomaszów counties. At present, it already covers 250 hectares of forest, and more than 300 firefighters and around 70 State Fire Service (PSP) and Volunteer Fire Department (OSP) units from the Lublin and Subcarpathian regions are fighting the blaze.
As the State Fire Service reported, this morning the SMOK 1 firefighting company from Małopolskie Voivodeship was dispatched, with 19 vehicles and 68 rescuers, along with a GFFF module from Podkarpackie Voivodeship, with 20 rescuers. Two forest fire experts from Wielkopolskie Voivodeship were also dispatched to support the work of the command staff, as were two Police S-70i Black Hawk International helicopters with Bambi Bucket water tanks, and the SGRW JRG-7 Warsaw unit with a component of water tanks and reservoirs to cooperate with the helicopters and GFFF. The KIELCE firefighting company from Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship remains on standby.
🔥🚁 WALKA Z ŻYWIOŁEM TRWA – WSPARCIE Z POWIETRZA
W związku z rozległym pożarem lasów i nieużytków na terenie trzech powiatów województwa lubelskiego: biłgorajskiego, zamojskiego i tomaszowskiego – do działań zadysponowany został policyjny śmigłowiec S-70i Black Hawk.🔥🚁Na… pic.twitter.com/Kah2CcFiIZ
— Polska Policja 🇵🇱 (@PolskaPolicja) May 6, 2026
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced the deployment of several dozen Territorial Defense Forces soldiers with reconnaissance unmanned aircraft.
Żołnierze @terytorialsi ruszają do pomocy strażakom walczącym z tragicznym pożarem lasów na Lubelszczyźnie w powiecie biłgorajskim. W tej chwili trwa rekonesans pierwszej grupy żołnierzy, który określi zasady i miejsce współdziałania ze strażą pożarną. Nad ranem do walki z…
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) May 5, 2026
UPDATE
The District Prosecutor’s Office in Zamość issued a statement:
https://t.co/Qo8p7ux0Vk
Komunikat w sprawie wypadku samolotu Dromader biorącego udział w akcji gaśniczej— Prokuratura Okręgowa w Zamościu (@Prok_Okreg_Zam) May 6, 2026
Instructor pilot Andrzej Gawron was killed in the crash at the age of 65. He had worked for LOT Polish Airlines since 1993, later for other companies, and most recently at Mieleckie Zakłady Lotnicze.
Andrzej Gawron was also a first-class airplane instructor, with experience in class training (FI, IRI, CRI ME(L), CRI SE(L)), as well as the author of publications in Przegląd Lotniczy Aviation Revue.
The editorial team of MILMAG Military Magazine wishes to express its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.