A Polish army M-346 Bielik training aircraft crashes at the Polish airport of Gdynia-Kosakowo.

TVP Info portal reported on this with reference to the General Command of Polish Armed Forces spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Marek Pawlak.

“All we know is that the training aircraft burst into flames after hitting the airport runway,” the military said.

According to preliminary information, there was only one pilot on board the aircraft, who died.

“It is with deep regret that we inform you that today, during a training flight at the airfield of the 43rd Naval Aviation Base in Gdynia, Major Robert Jeł tragically died,” the Air Force said.

M-346s are fairly new aircraft for Polish pilots. Only in 2022, the Polish Air Force received the final batch of M-346 training aircraft.

Poland became the third largest M-346 operator in terms of fleet size after Italy and Israel.

The first 8 aircraft were purchased for Poland as part of a tender for advanced flight training.

They are intended to replace the outdated TS-11 Iskra jet trainers.

This modern Italian M-346 training aircraft was first presented at the Farnborough International Airshow in July 2008.

The aircraft is powered by two Honeywell F124-GA-200 turbojet engines. The aircraft’s equipment includes three color displays in the cockpit, Alenia Difesa avionics, and a Martin Baker/SICAMB: Mk.16 ejection seat.

In the combat version, it can carry loads of up to 3000 kg.