2 Poles in Small Plane Fly to West, Evading Detection

Two young Polish men flew a single-engine plane apparently undetected through 240 miles of East Bloc airspace to the West on Monday and said they fled because they were dissatisfied with conditions in their homeland.

The 22-year-old pilot and his passenger, 21, landed their ZLIN-142 sport plane at the U.S. Air Force’s Tempelhof Air Base in West Berlin and told American interrogators they avoided detection by the Polish and East German air forces by flying at an altitude of between 15 and 100 feet.

Identified only as professional pilot Witold S. and passenger Marek S., the two said they took off at about 5 a.m. from Elblag, southwest of the Baltic port of Gdansk, about 240 miles northeast of Berlin.

Although other refugees fleeing by air have been chased by East Bloc fighters, a West Berlin Justice Department spokesman said the Poles encountered no hostile aircraft during their 2-hour, 15-minute flight.

“They said they fled because they were dissatisfied with conditions in Poland, but they did not go into detail,” spokesman Volker Kaehne said.

After their interrogation, the two men were taken before a West Berlin judge to explain why they violated Berlin air safety rules. Such a procedure is customary in escapes by air.

Refugees from the East Bloc are never sent back.