Tadeusz Wrona (born April 16, 1954 in

Żywiec Żywiec () is a town on the River Soła in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). It is situated within the Silesian Voivodeship, near the Żywiec Lake and Żywiec Landscape Park, one of the eight protected areas in the voivodeship. H ...

) is a Polish retired pilot who successfully performed a

belly landing A belly landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device. Normally the term ''gear-up landing'' refers to incidents in which the pilo ...

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16 was a scheduled flight from Newark, New Jersey, Newark, United States, to Warsaw, Poland. On 1 November, 2011 the Boeing 767 operating the route made a successful gear-up emergency landing at Warsaw Chopin Airport, a ...

, a

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

at Chopin Airport in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

on November 1, 2011. None of the 231 passengers and crew were injured.

Award

On November 7, 2011, Wrona was awarded the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

, Officer's Cross, one of Poland's highest decorations. His co-pilot, Jerzy Szwarc, was awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta, Knight's Cross. The two honours were bestowed in recognition of their "outstanding achievements in the service of the state and society, and for their professionalism and exemplary attitude in the face of threats to human life."LOT 767 hero receives honours from President Komorowski
, ''

Polskie Radio The Polish Radio (PR; Polish: ''Polskie Radio'', PR) is a national public-service radio broadcasting organization of Poland, founded in 1925. It is owned by the State Treasury of Poland. On 27 December 2023, the Minister of Culture and Nationa ...

'', 7 November 2011. Accessed 2012-03-02. At the

Presidential Palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...

ceremony President Komorowski said that people had watched the landing on a live television broadcast, and he congratulated the pair for achieving a "happy ending to a dramatic incident." The following week, Wrona was greeted as a hero when he visited a Polish and Slavic center in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16

A video of the landing was recorded and widely broadcast in the international media. Wrona was described as a hero in Polish and International media and by the Polish president Bronislaw Komorowski. Komorowski spoke to Wrona shortly after the incident, and announced that state decorations were to be given out to Wrona and the rest of the flight crew. In subsequent interviews Wrona downplayed his role in the event. After the event internet fan websites, including

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, were established to celebrate his accomplishment, many of which included a pun on his name, "Fly like an eagle, land like a crow" ("wrona" means "

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

" in Polish). He was compared to

Chesley Sullenberger Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born January 23, 1951) is an American retired aircraft pilot, diplomat and aviation safety expert. He is best known for his actions as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, when he ...

who successfully ditched

US Airways Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds shortl ...

in the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

on January 15, 2009, also without any serious injuries. Sullenberger himself, in a

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

interview, congratulated Wrona and stated that this might have been the first emergency landing of its kind.

Personal life

Wrona also holds a diamond badge for gliding awarded by the Aeroklub Ziemi Lubuskiej (

Lubusz Land Lubusz Land (; ) is a historical region and cultural landscape in Poland and Germany on both sides of the Oder river. Originally the settlement area of the Lechites, the swampy area was located east of Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and ...

Air Club). He is married to Marzena Wrona. They have two children; a daughter, Natalia Wrona, who is a five-time champion of Poland in

eventing Eventing (also known as three-day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where the same horse and rider combination compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

, in the junior category, and a son Mikołaj, who was a civilian pilot like his father; Mikołaj Wrona died in 2024 as a result of leukemia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrona, Tadeusz 1954 births Living people Polish aviators People from Żywiec Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta LOT Polish Airlines Commercial aviators