A court in Ciechanów, north-central Poland, found Marcin G. (surname withheld under Polish privacy laws), who was flying a police Black Hawk helicopter, guilty of failing to carry out his duties and creating a direct risk of an air disaster.
He received a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a fine of PLN 20,000 (EUR 4,540).
He was also ordered to pay a further PLN 10,000 (EUR 2,270) to a fund that supports crime victims, and he is banned from flying helicopters for two years.
The case was decided without a trial after the pilot agreed to accept the sentence.
The incident happened in August 2023 at a military picnic to mark 103 years since the Battle of Sarnowa Góra during the 1920 Polish-Soviet War.
As the helicopter flew low over the crowd, it snapped an overhead cable on a high-voltage power line.
Losses to the Polish state and the energy company Energa Operator were estimated at almost PLN 3 million (EUR 680,000)
(ał)
Source: IAR