An F-16 fighter jet crashed in Poland this Thursday, killing a pilot after it took to the air for a training flight ahead of the 2025 Random International Air Show.
The incident took place around 7:25 p.m. local time, with Polish interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak having since confirmed the pilot’s death.
He has also been identified as Major Maciej Krakowian in a statement from the General Command of the Polish Armed Forces.
Krakowian was the leader of the display team and, just this month, was awarded the ‘As the Crow Flies’ trophy by aviation enthusiasts who determined that he’d given the “best overall flying demonstration” at the world’s biggest military air show, the Royal International Air Tattoo.
Krakowian was an instructor at the 31st Tactical Air Base near Poznan and had over 1,000 flying hours with the F-16, which belonged to the base.
A video of the crash posted to Twitter/X shows the aircraft executing a steep high-speed maneuver before plummeting into the tarmac and bursting into flames, leaving onlookers in panic.
The clip is right below, but we warn that it’s graphic.
F-16 Fighter Jet Pilot’s Death “A Great Loss” For Poland
Thursday’s crash follows multiple international aviation mishaps in 2025, including one bearing the most significant mass casualty in several years, with an Indian pilot believed to have caused it as an act of suicide.
Another crash took place shortly after takeoff from a London airport last month, while one of the most bizarre occurred on a golf course. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
The pilot involved in Thursday’s fatal crash graduated from the Aviation Training Institute in Deblin and the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where he spent four years.
He had also undergone specialist training, flying in several international missions.
“My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. This is a great loss for the Air Force and the entire Polish Army,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, wrote on X.
Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones.
