Posted on 04/20/2010 9:11:13 PM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse
The National Public Prosecutor's Office is trying to determine whether Russian authorities made some minor repairs to the runway landing systems at the Smolensk airport following the plane crash on the morning of April 10.
According to eyewitness accounts, after the crash – in which President Lech Kacyński and 95 others lost their lives – airport personnel were seen changing light bulbs on runway lights close to the airport, suggesting that at the time of the attempted landing the lights were broken.
Colonel Zbigniew Rzepa, from the Chief Military Prosecutor's office, told PAP that the office is investigating reports that just before the arrival of the Polish and Russian Prime Ministers following the crash, light bulbs were changed and electricity cables were laid down.
On the day of the crash a heavy fog surrounded the airport leading to average visibility of around 400 meters.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2496549/posts
Both links show the runway lights they are investigating.
They could have been placed and still might have not been working or turned on.
I SWEAR I saw this plot in DIEHARD 2!!
(The one with Fred Thompson!)
The old saw about Soviet era Russians stealing light bulbs by swapping their old dead bulbs from home for working bulbs in public facilities comes to mind.
But after the crash they might simply have put down brighter strings of lights as extra assurance against a repeat occurrence in their heavy fogs.
For a second I thought the this might be about eco-fascists enforcing a zero tolerance rule on light bulbs now.
I wouldn’t be surprised that they were seen putting the lights back up on their posts, supported by concrete markers.
There is one photo where the lamps were clearly old and broken but behind them on the wooden fence, the lights were setting in a temporary fashion.
*For a second I thought the this might be about eco-fascists enforcing a zero tolerance rule on light bulbs now*.
That’s what I thought, too!
:}
So, why would the condition of the landing lights be of interest?
Do you have proof they told the pilots this?
Since the plane was 40 meters left of runway.. Maybe
When will Russia hand over flight voice recorders? Warsaw Business Journal
The Russians stated that parts of the cockpit recorder are damaged. The Polish prosecutor is requesting the recorder.
That assertion was in all the news reports. It fueled speculation that President Kaczynski, who was eager not to miss the Katyn ceremonies, may have pressured his pilots to land at the planned destination against their better judgment instead of diverting to Minsk, as advised by ATC.
As for proof, we have to trust the Russians to gather up the evidence honestly. Presumably, there is the CVR, there should be recordings of the tower radio traffic, there are ATCs to interview, there may be other pilots or scanner owners who heard the traffic, etc.
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