LOT in Tempelhof

On 22nd November 1982 the pilot Jerzy Mikula was surprised in his cockpit by a hijacker who demanded to be flown to Tempelhof. This was no less than the third time he had experienced a hijack. But this time the hijacker was a twenty-two-year-old ZOMO official (Zmotoryzowane Obwody Milicji Obywatelskiej / the Motorised Reserves of the Civilians’ Militia), who was responsible for onboard security. He was even an instructor specialising in aircraft hijacks. Although he was carrying a weapon, several grenades and a parachute, thankfully he used none of them. The second official on-board only noticed the situation in Berlin but by then it was too late. Despite shooting the hijacker in the heel he was unable to stop him fleeing to the West.

These are only a few of the fates of the huge amount of people involved in the aircraft hijacks or escapes, depending on which way you define such things. There were also many attempts to escape on board smaller aircraft not belonging to LOT. A huge number of these were unsuccessful. Some of them were stopped before they even took off and some were turned back in the air. Whatever the case, punishment and repression awaited the potential refugees and their families.

Tempelhof airport is not only still a symbol of freedom for Polish citizens. Although there are no more landings here, let alone hijacks, the huge site now belongs to the citizens of Berlin. Here they can find a place of recreation in which to stroll, jog and skate. Today it is very difficult to imagine that today’s “Tempelhof Park” was once the site of dramatic flights from the People’s Republic of Poland.

Nowadays LOT lands completely legally at Berlin-Tegel, but no one jokes about them “landing a lot in Tegel”. This is also a sign of the huge change in European relations during the past few decades.

Adam Gusowski, January 2016

Additional information:

The police files and press collections in the National archive in Berlin refer to 16 LOT aircraft that were hijacked to Tempelhof. By contrast, in the Tempelhof Air Force archive there are references to only eight hijacked LOT aircraft (in addition to 4 Polish aircraft not belonging to LOT).