During the “Sky Rescuers” event, organized on May 15th as part of the Night of Museums, our collections will be officially donated with exceptional memorabilia from Janusz Cygański, a Polish Air Rescue pilot who died during a rescue flight in 2009. The ceremony will not only be a symbolic act of donating the museum items, but above all, an expression of remembrance of those who, while serving to save the lives of others, made the ultimate sacrifice.
The ceremony will take place at approximately 7:30 PM on the mezzanine floor of Hangar No. 5, next to the display case dedicated to the Polish Air Rescue Service.
The pilot’s son, Karol Cygański, will present memorabilia. The following items will be added to the Museum’s collection:
Another gift from the pilot’s family to the Museum. In 2019, on the 10th anniversary of the crash, Karol Cygański donated his father’s flight suit, hat, and gloves to the collection. These memorabilia are currently displayed in a display case dedicated to the LPR in the permanent exhibition “Dowsnwind and upwind – Civil Aviation.”
On February 17, 2009, the crew of a Mi-2 Plus helicopter operated by the Polish Air Ambulance Service (APM) took off from Wrocław to respond to a collision on the A4 motorway near Budziszów Wielki. During the flight, weather conditions deteriorated rapidly, with heavy fog and snowfall. While attempting to return to the departure airport, the helicopter crashed in Jarostów. Pilot Janusz Cygański and a paramedic died in the crash, and the doctor on board sustained serious injuries.
The memorabilia will be presented as part of the “Sky Rescuers” event (during the Night of Museums on May 15, 2026), dedicated to the history and present of air rescue services.
