Posted on 04/15/2010 10:57:55 PM PDT by ketelone
WARSAW: Investigators blamed pilot error on Thursday for a crash that killed Poland's president, as harrowing details emerged of how the crew knew they were doomed after hitting trees while trying to land in Russia.
As Poland's national unity fractured over plans to bury president Lech Kaczynski in a castle alongside kings and heroes, officials released the first results from analysis of the plane's black box flight recorders.
"The crew was aware of the inevitability of the coming catastrophe, if only due to the plane shaking after the wings hit the trees -- which we are certain happened," Poland's chief prosecutor Andrzej Seremet told commercial radio.
Colonel Zbigniew Rzepa, a Polish military prosecutor, said the pilots of the Russian-made jet were aware of the imminent crash as the last seconds of the voice recordings "were dramatic", but did not elaborate.
But Russian investigators found no evidence that "any of the high-ranking passengers forced the pilots to land in Smolensk", Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a source close to the investigation as saying.
The Polish presidential Tupolev Tu-154 crashed in thick fog Saturday near the western Russian city while taking a delegation to a memorial service for a World War II massacre.
All 96 people on board, many of them senior Polish military and political figures, were killed.
Officials said Thursday that a "special security procedure" was being implemented for the arrival of US President Barack Obama and other foreign leaders for the funeral in Krakow, with around 80 planes set to land there Sunday morning.
With a cloud of ash spreading across northern Europe from an Icelandic volcano, Poland closed its airspace in the north of the country on Thursday until further notice, but a White House spokesman said that Obama was keeping his plans to fly.
Protests have erupted over the choice of Krakow's historic Wawel castle, the resting place of Poland's past kings, a saint and national heroes, for the burial of the president and his wife Maria.
Hundreds of people rallied in Warsaw, Krakow, the Baltic port of Gdansk and Poznan in the west on Wednesday, while more than 42,000 people have joined a Facebook campaign against the decision.
The hierarchy of Poland's powerful Roman Catholic urged critics to calm down in the dispute.
"We must respect the decision," Bishop Stanislaw Budzik, secretary-general of the Polish Bishops' Conference, was quoted as saying by Poland's PAP news agency.
"The intention is to commemorate all victims of a disaster unprecedented in Polish history," Budzik said.
As debate raged over Kaczynski's burial site, questions also mounted over the cause of the crash.
Russian investigators said Thursday that initial findings from the jet's data and flight voice recorders said the crew may not have been aware of the particularities of the plane when they repeatedly tried to land.
"An analysis of the evidence, including the first results from the decoding of the black boxes, shows that an error in piloting led to the disaster," the Interfax news agency quoted a source close to the investigation as saying.
The official said it appeared that the plane tried to land by levelling out its oblique descent approach to a horizontal angle in a bid to compensate for the bad weather.
But the source said a "particularity of the plane is that if its speed of descent is more that six metres per second, when the plane equalized and goes into a horizontal flight it loses altitude," the source said.
Speculation that the pilots were under pressure has centred on a spat in 2008, when Kaczynski tried and failed to order a pilot to land in Tbilisi while on a show of support for Georgia during its brief war with Russia.
On Saturday, Kaczynski's delegation was headed to a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, when thousands of Polish officers were slaughtered by the Soviet secret police in 1940.
Thousands of people queued for a third day Thursday to pay their respects to the conservative, nationalist Kaczynski and his wife, whose bodies are lying in state at the presidential palace in Warsaw.
An early presidential election is expected on June 20.
The bodies of 34 more crash victims were flown home to Poland Thursday.
like ‘gloating’.
Wasn’t the report that it was a Russian Plane sent to pick up Poland’s Admin for the memorial? If the plane was not a Poland plane used by Poland Gov’t, then why did they get on it? Or did I misunderstand?
what kind of airport has tall trees so close to the glidepath?
Did Kaczynski have a problem keeping himself under ‘control’
a la Bubba? If not I’d say the comparison is unfair.
Bless your heart for that. Very touching.
Hey, somebody has to keep you awake Null!;-)
It was not my intention to compare the two men, just to put a frame of reference for Americans to understand why there is a controversy there.
First denied missile defense from the USA, then decapitated by the USSR Russia.
First denied missile defense from the USA, then decapitated by the USSR Russia.
Yes. And now a cloud of ash covers a lot of Europe. It appears symbolic.
sure I’m sure that was what the Russian were thing too.
My instincts tell me Putin knew the plane was doomed as well.
The Russian Media, Unfortunately during Obama’s Regime, is probably much more truthful and Objective than Ours!
I spent an hour on your page.
Awesome is an understatement.
I am most intrigued by Galilee of the Nations and will pass that on to my Jewish friends;-)
I googled the phrase “Oblique descent” last night, and one of the responses was a Google book about physics. It may be a translation problem... However, it sounds like they are making stuff up trying to make it sound all professional-like. Trying to talk over people’s heads.
Besides, there are just too many inconsistencies in what has been reported by authorities TO the press...
Don’t get me wrong... I actually trust one or two UK papers, and would trust the Pravda most times over the vast majority of our media. However, this is a REALLY big thing, and Putin’s hands are not clean regarding the media in the country. The implications are very serious if it is found Russia is not being completely truthful about the accident (or more directly Putin because he put himself ultimately in charge of the whole thing). There is more to say that there is some sort of cover-up going on, IMHO than not. Too many conflicting reports...
My apologies, I was being Sarquastic about Our Extremely Rotten Media here today. I never believe a word of any Russian Media, especially whena Disaster like this happens the night before PUTIN is alleged to be planning on APOLOGIZING to the Polish People for a Russian Atrocity against them......It wasn’t going to happen....the KGB is very effective..... and now it just by coincidence will never Happen.....:-(
The Russian report seems to imply that the pilots not only made errors, but did not know how to properly fly that type of plane. I find this extremely difficult to believe. One would think that a plane carrying so many high ranking officials would be flown by the best pilots in the country.
Do you have a ping list for the crash? If so, would you please add me to it? Thank you. :)
Any chance of anything “planted” during the maintenance/repairs/renovations in Russia back in December? Or, do I remember the cold war and spy movies too well?
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