Polish Plane Crash: What Happened in the Cockpit?

ABC News ^ | 04/12/10 | DRAGANA JOVANOVIC and ALEXANDER MARQUARDT

[BunnySlippers]

The recordings, according to Russian news broadcasts, indicated that the pilot struggled to communicate in Russian with the control tower below. Ground control warned the pilot not to land because of poor weather.

Minutes before the plane crashed Polish president Lech Kacynski called his twin brother and told him everything was fine and the plane would be landing shortly.

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Aviation expert and ABC News consultant John Nance said the added pressure of carrying dignitaries can affect a pilot's decision making abilities.

"When a pilot puts pressure on himself or herself, it can be a very bad result," Nance said. "Unfortunately, when you've got the head of a country on board and you've got a lot of dignitaries, you want to get them where they want to go. That kind of pressure can override good sense."

Kacynski has a history of trying to pull rank on pilots. In 2008 he ordered a plane to land in war-torn Georgia where it wasn't safe. The pilot refused.

[stuartcr]

Something that may have resulted in the crash.

[BradyLS]

Possibly the best thing to come out of this tragedy is that pols will know that if they want a walk-away landing wherever they go, they’ll let the Captain of the craft and the controllers at receiving field make the decisions about how to fly the plane and where to land it safely.

[homegroan]

I still say it was not an accident.

[BunnySlippers]

Also, I have always heard that ENGLISH is spoken in air control towers universally.

Why as he speaking Russian?

[Malesherbes]

We are getting the Russian version of events, a version which asserts pilot error. This is followed by commentary on psychology and a swipe at Kaczynski.

For whatever it may be worth, another version coming out of Poland is that (1) the Russians wanted the plane to divert to another airfield and the pilot said it was not possible because of mechanical difficulties, and (2) the Russian built plane (Tupolev) had been overhauled in Russia a couple of months ago.

Bottom line: jump to no conclusions and wait for a full and objective investigation.

[C210N]

The Russian angle might be: Well, if the plane (and all its occupants) were fluent in Russian, all would be well. Fluent, as in primary language.

[Texas Fossil]

Moscow who studied flight recorders from the plane crash that killed the Polish president said the pilot was warned of bad weather and that there was apparently nothing technically wrong with the aircraft.

Enough said. I am not buying the story.

[Canedawg]

The Bolshevik spin machine is moving into third gear.

[Texas Fossil]

In an ironic twist, Polish journalist Kurczab-Redlich says that the tragic loss of Kaczynski, seen as a Polish nationalist, is likely to improve the country's political prospects with Russia. "The value of this tragedy is that both sides will recognize this moment as an opportunity to move ahead. It's a great opportunity for both Russia and Poland to go beyond the rapprochement that existed yesterday,". Kurczab-Redlich said in a telephone interview from Warsaw. "And the outpouring of sympathy from Russians about what happened is sincere and may actually help."

This type of statement makes me ill. My prayers are with all of Poland.

[captbarney]

with Putin in charge

[mimaw]

Overhauled in Russia, says it all.

[mimaw]

I see journalists in Poland are about as credible as in the U.S.

[Walkingfeather]

Most likely they were taught by the same professors in college.

[stuartcr]

Not necessarily. Why would a foreign flag vessel with a native pilot, speak a foreign language when talking to air controllers in his own country?

[BunnySlippers]

The pilot was not native. He was struggling to speak in non-native Russian.

[verity]

"Bottom line: jump to no conclusions and wait for a full and objective investigation."

Most Freepers normally do the exact opposite.

[stuartcr]

OK

[QQQQ]

Most likely the tower personnel don’t speak English.

[Big Horn]

The whole deal is fishy.