23rd Air Base

23rd Air Base
23rd Air Base
Near Mińsk Mazowiecki in Poland
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Polish Air Force
Site history
In use	1 January 2001-Present
Garrison information
Current; commander	Col. Maciej Trelka
Garrison	1st Tactical Squadron
Airfield information
Identifiers	ICAO: EPMM

The 23rd Air Base (Polish: 23 Baza Lotnicza) is a Polish Air Force base, located 6 km east of Mińsk Mazowiecki. It was officially established on 1 January 2001, replacing the disbanded 1st Aviation Regiment "Warszawa". The main unit based there is the 1st Air Tactical Squadron, which operates MiG-29 fighter jets.

On 18 December 2017, one of the MiG-29's stationed here at the base crash landed in a forest near Kałuszyn while on approach to land.^[1] The pilot survived. Initial reports were contradictory as tonwhether he had ejected. On 21 December 2017, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that the pilot did not eject.^[2] This incident marked the first crash of a MiG-29 during its nearly three decades of its operational service in the Polish Air Force.^[3] The second crash followed on 4 March 2019. This time the pilot ejected and survived.^[4]