1980 — March 14, Polish Air approach crash (with US boxing team) ~Warsaw AP, Poland–87, US/31

–31 US of 87 (29 U.S. and 2 with dual U.S.-Polish citizenship). AP. “Polish Plane…” 3-17-1980

–31 US of 87. AP. “Memorial Service,” Burlington Times-News, NC, 3-30-1980, p. 3A.[1]

–31 US. Brannon and Mortang. “The crash of LOT flight 007: dental identification.” JFS 2002.[2]

–29 US of 87. UPI. “U.S. boxing team among 87 killed in Polish jet crash.” 3-15-1980, p. 1.

–28 US of 87. AP. “Few clues in tragic crash.” Sunday Sun, Lowell, MA, 3-16-1980, p. A6.

–24 US of 87. UPI. “Jet Crash Kills 87, US Boxers.” Tyrone Daily Herald, PA, 3-14-1980, p. 1.

–22 US of 87. History.com. This Day in History, Disaster. March 14, 1980. “Boxing team…”

–22  USA Boxing. “USA Boxing Remembers the Victims of the 1980 Plane Crash.” 3-15-2010.

 

Narrative Information

 

History.com: “A Polish Airlines flight, on a Soviet-built Ilyushin 62 jet, crashes while attempting to land in Warsaw, killing all 87 people on board, including 22 members of the United States boxing team, on this day in 1980.

 

“The flight originated in New York and carried 77 passengers and 10 crew members, in addition to the young boxers. On its approach to the airport there were problems with the landing gear. The pilots attempted a second approach using a special procedure to account for the faulty landing gear. However, the additional thrust used in the procedure caused one of the plane’s engines to break apart, which in turn severed the rudder and elevator control lines, which were needed to control the direction and altitude of the plane. A half-mile from the airport, the plane crashed into an army base that had been a 19th-century fortress. Much of the fuselage landed in a water-filled moat around the base. Due to the location of the crash site, which was difficult to reach, the bodies remained there for more than a day.

 

“Among the victims were the 14 American amateur boxers, most in their teens and taking their first trip out of the United States, who were traveling with six coaches and an aide to attend televised matches in Katowice, Poland. The boxers were preparing for the upcoming Olympic trials (later the United States would boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan). The team was led by Coach Tom Sarge Johnson, who had helped the 1976 U.S. Olympic boxing team earn five gold medals and seven medals overall.

 

“Lemuel Steeples was the best boxer aboard the plane. He had recently won the Pan American Games championship in his weight class and was the amateur national champion; he would have been the favorite for the Olympic gold medal. Also aboard the plane were a prominent anthropologist, Dr. Alan Merriam, and the Polish singer Anna Jantar. A future light-heavyweight champion of the world, Bobby Czyz, was fortunate not to be on the flight. The Polish American boxer was a member of the U.S. boxing team and had been scheduled to make the trip, but had cancelled when he was injured in a car accident just days before team’s departure.” (

 

USA Boxing: “Colorado Springs, Colo. — On March 14, 1980, the sport of amateur boxing and the world tragically lost 22 members to a plane crash near Warsaw, Poland. The fourteen boxers and eight staff members aboard the flight, which killed a total of 77 people,[3] were en route to an international event in Poland at the time of the crash. The team was traveling from New York to Warsaw to compete in two dual events in Cracow and Katowice when the Polish IL-62 jetliner went down just a half a mile from Warsaw’s Okecie Airport. Sunday, March 14, 2010 marked the 30th anniversary of the tragic accident and USA Boxing would like to acknowledge those team members and the sacrifice they made for their country and the love of the sport. Those lost on March 14, 1980 will never be forgotten.

 

USA Boxing Team Members and Staff Lost in the 1980 Plane Crash [22 names]

 

KELVIN D. ANDERSON
ELLIOT CHAVIS
GARY TYRONE CLAYTON
WALTER HARRIS
BYRON LINDSAY
ANDRE MCCOY
PAUL PALOMINO
BYRON PAYTON
GEORGE PIMENTAL
CHUCK ROBINSON
DAVID RODRIGUEZ
LEMUEL STEEPLES
JEROME STEWART
COL. BERNARD CALLAHAN
THOMAS “SARGE” JOHNSON
JOSEPH BLAND
JOHN RADISON
JUNIOR ROBLES
LONNIE YOUNG
DELORES WESSON
DR. RAY WESSON
STEVE SMIGIEL

 

(USA Boxing. “USA Boxing Remembers the Victims of the 1980 Plane Crash.” 3-15-2010.)

 

Wikipedia: “LOT Flight 7 was an Ilyushin Il-62 that crashed near Okecie Airport in Warsaw, Poland, on 14 March 1980, as the crew aborted a landing and attempted to go-around. All 87 crew and passengers died. It was caused by the disintegration of one of the turbine discs in one of the plane’s engines, leading to uncontained engine failure. The turbine disc was later found to have manufacturing faults.”[4]

 

Newspapers

 

March 14: “Warsaw (UPI) — A Polish airlines jet flying from New York via Montreal crashed near Warsaw’s Okecie airport today, killing all 87 people aboard, including a 23-member American national boxing team, officials said. The plane, with 77 passengers and 10 crewmembers, suddenly dropped from an altitude of 300 feet as it approached a landing at Okecie International Airport and smashed ‘into smithereens’ about 2 miles from the runway. The national news agency PAP said there were no survivors.

 

“Officials from the Polish boxing association said that among the passengers was a 24-man national U.S. boxing team, including 16 boxers, who were to have taken part in matches against the Polish national team in Katowice and Krakow.

 

“The accident occurred under sunny skies with perfect visibility. Some witnesses said the Soviet-made IL-63 jet exploded on impact….

 

“Sources at the airport said the plane apparently developed engine trouble and the pilot had radioed that it would attempt a landing at Warsaw’s domestic airport which was closer than the Okecie international airport. Precautions for an emergency landing had been readied at the domestic airport.

 

“Witnesses said the plane fell into the center of the 19th century Warsaw Citadel where 25-foot high earthen walls surround a fortress….the plane crashed into the ground, not the buildings….

 

“The crash was the worst foreign air disaster for U.S. athletes since the entire 17-member U.S. figure skating team died in a 1961 tragedy at Berg, Belgium…..

 

“Airport sources said the jetliner apparently developed engine trouble shortly before its scheduled landing….Okecie International Airport is located on a plain 20 miles from Warsaw’s city center.” (UPI. “Jet Crash Kills 87, US Boxers.” Tyrone Daily Herald, PA, 3-14-1980, p. 1.)

 

March 15: “Warsaw, Poland (UPI) — Eighty-seven people — including 22 members of a United States amateur boxing team — were killed Friday in the crash of a Soviet-built Polish jetliner crippled by engine trouble minutes from a landing in Warsaw. Seven other Americans were also among the dead, a spokesman for LOT Polish Airlines in New York said. There were no survivors.

 

“The LOT Ilyushin 62 jet, on a scheduled 3,700-mile flight from New York, was attempting to make an emergency landing on a foam-covered runway at Warsaw’s domestic airport after reporting trouble in one of its four engines….

 

“Witnesses said that while debris was spread over abut 200 square yards of muddy fields, the main fuselage of the plane sank through 15-inch-thick ice into a deep ond in the middle of the fortress area. The fuselage was under 12 to 24 feet of water and frogmen were working to recover bodies.

 

“Among the dead were 14 boxers — some of them teenagers as young as 16 — from a U.S. Amateur Athletic Union boxing team and eight team officials and aides. The AAU team had been scheduled to compete against the Polish national team at Katowice and Krakow March 16 and 18…..” (UPI. Warsaw. “U.S. boxing team among 87 killed in Polish jet crash.” Journal Tribune, Biddeford, ME, 3-15-1980, p. 1.)

 

March 16: “Warsaw, Poland (AP) — A U.S. diplomat yesterday inspected the site of a Polish airline crash that claimed the lives of 28 Americans and 59 others, and said many of the bodies so far reclaimed from the partly-submerged wreckage were dismembered beyond recognition….

 

“Virden said [U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Virden] … ‘All we know is that the plane apparently exploded in the air and that it was, therefore, not a crash landing. It disintegrated an what remained came to rest inside the fortification.’…. Witnesses said they hear at least one explosion before the crash…” (Associated Press. “Few clues in tragic crash.” Sunday Sun, Lowell, MA, 3-16-1980, p. A6.)

 

March 17: “Warsaw, Poland (AP) — The Polish jetliner that crashed killing all 87 persons aboard lost part of one huge turbofan engine minutes before it slammed through an earthen wall into a 40-foot deep moat, airport sources said Sunday [March 16]. Capt. Pawel Lipowczan, said to be one of the Polish national LOT Airline’s most experienced pilots, had just enough time before Friday’s crash to alert Warsaw air controllers and instruct the four stewardesses on board to dress themselves in fireproof overalls, the sources said.

 

“U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard A Virden said 29 Americans perished in the crash, including 22 members of an amateur boxing squad. In addition, two other victims had dual U.S.-Polish citizenship. Virden identified one of the dual nationals as Christina Wisinska, of Linden, N.J. Officials in Linden said Mrs. Wisinska’s husband died shortly after receiving a telegram notifying him of her death. They said the 61-year-old Wladyslaw Wisinska apparently suffered a heart attack.

 

“The other dual national was identified by Virden as Krystyna Niemira….” (AP, Warsaw. “Polish Plane Lost Part of Engine Before Crash.” The Titusville Herald, PA, 3-17-1980, p. 1.)

 

Identified U.S. Victims of LOT Flight 7

 

  1. Anderson, Kelvin D.               U.S. boxing team contingent
  2. Bland, Joseph.                         U.S. boxing team contingent
  3. Callahan, Col. Bernard.          U.S. boxing team contingent
  4. Chavis, Elliot.                         U.S. boxing team contingent
  5. Clayton, Gary Tyrone.            U.S. boxing team contingent
  6. Harris, Walter.                        U.S. boxing team contingent
  7. Johnson, Thomas “Sarge”       U.S. boxing team contingent
  8. Lindsay, Byron.                      U.S. boxing team contingent
  9. McCoy, Andre.                       U.S. boxing team contingent
  10. Merriam, Dr. Alan P.              Cultural anthropologist and ethnomusicologist.
  11. Niemira, Krystyna                  Dual U.S.-Polish citizenship.
  12. Palomino, Paul.                       U.S. boxing team contingent
  13. Payton, Byron.                        U.S. boxing team contingent
  14. Pimental, George.                   U.S. boxing team contingent
  15. Radison, John.                         U.S. boxing team contingent
  16. Robinson, Chuck.                   U.S. boxing team contingent
  17. Robles, Junior                         U.S. boxing team contingent
  18. Rodriguez, David.                  U.S. boxing team contingent
  19. Smigiel, Steve.                        U.S. boxing team contingent
  20. Steeples, Lemuel.                    U.S. boxing team contingent
  21. Stewart, Jerome.                      U.S. boxing team contingent
  22. Young, Lonnie.                       U.S. boxing team contingent
  23. Wesson, Delores.                    U.S. boxing team contingent
  24. Wesson, Dr. Ray.                    U.S. boxing team contingent
  25. Christina Wisinska.                 Linden, NJ

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Few clues in tragic crash.” Sunday Sun, Lowell, MA, 3-16-1980, p. A6. Accessed 6-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lowell-sun-mar-16-1980-p-6/?tag

 

Associated Press. “Memorial Service,” Burlington Times-News, NC, 3-30-1980, p. 3A. Accessed 6-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-daily-times-news-mar-30-1980-p-3/?tag

 

Associated Press, Warsaw. “Polish Plane Lost Part of Engine Before Crash.” The Titusville Herald, PA, 3-17-1980, p. 1. Accessed 6-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/titusville-herald-mar-17-1980-p-1/?tag

 

Brannon, R.B. and W.M. Mortang. “The crash of LOT flight 007: dental identification.” Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 47, No. 6, Nov 2002, pp. 1323-1325. Abstract accessed 6-23-2017 at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12455657

 

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster. March 14, 1980. “Boxing team among casualties in Polish Air crash.” Accessed 6-22-2017 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/boxing-team-among-casualties-in-polish-air-crash

 

United Press International (Bogdan Turek), Warsaw. “Jet Crash Kills 87, US Boxers.” Tyrone Daily Herald, PA, 3-14-1980, p. 1. Accessed 6-22-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/tyrone-daily-herald-mar-14-1980-p-1/?tag

 

United Press International, Warsaw. “U.S. boxing team among 87 killed in Polish jet crash.” Journal Tribune, Biddeford, ME, 3-15-1980, p. 1. Accessed 6-22-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/biddeford-journal-tribune-mar-15-1980-p-42/?tag

 

USA Boxing. “USA Boxing Remembers the Victims of the 1980 Plane Crash.” 3-15-2010. Accessed 6-22-2017 at: http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Boxing/Features/2010/March/15/USA-Boxing-Remembers-the-Victims-of-the-1980-Plane-Crash

[1] “A memorial service to be attended by U.S. Embassy personnel…is scheduled today as the bodies of the 31 Americans killed in an air crash near Warsaw earlier this month are to be returned home…”

[2] Abstract: “The authors record the contribution of dentistry to the identification of American victims of one of the most significant aircraft tragedies involving American athletes — the March 1980 crash of a Soviet-made Ilyushin 62 Polish jetliner and the deaths of 31 Americans including a 22-member U.S. amateur boxing team with several U.S. Olympic team candidates.”

[3] There were 77 passengers — and also a crew of 10.

[4] No source citation is provided.