MOSCOW - A Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski crashed near the Smolensk airport on Saturday morning, killing all on board. Among the victims were ninety-six high-ranking Polish officials including Kaczynski's wife. The Polish delegation was heading to Katyn, near Smolensk, to commemorate victims of the Katyn Massacre on the 70th anniversary of the tragedy.
According to eyewitnesses, the plane was on approach to Smolensk’s Severny (North) airport in thick fog and was only 500-700 meters away from the runway before it hit the ground. "The Polish presidential airliner hit the treetops about 20 meters above the ground and fell apart," a witness told Interfax.
Later that day Smolensk Region Governor Sergei Anufriyev said on Russia 24 news TV channel: "The Polish presidential plane did not make it to the runway while landing. Tentative findings indicate that it hit the treetops and fell apart. Nobody has survived the disaster".
The Polish Foreign Ministry confirmed Kaczynski’s death in a plane crash near Smolensk. "Everything indicates that Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria Kaczynska have died," Russia 24 news TV channel quoted Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski as saying.
A prompt reaction of Russian authorities followed the crash with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordering a commission led by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to investigate the circumstances of the crash to be set up.
Emergency Situations Ministry Sergei Shoigu and chief of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin immediately rushed to Smolensk on Medvedev’s instructions, the Kremlin reported. Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev and Transport Minister Igor Levitin also arrived at the scene.
A crisis center was also set up in Moscow to help Polish citizens who may come to Russia following the death of Kaczynski.
"I talked to the Moscow mayor. A special crisis center will be set up in Moscow and the media will carry information about it," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry will do its utmost to guarantee visa support without procrastination or red tape to the Polish nationals wishing to come here," he said.
Victims
The list of the crash victims include Kaczynski, his wife Maria, Polish Central Bank governor Slawomir Skrzypek, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer, Polish Olympic Committee President Piotr Nurowski, Sejm Deputy Speaker Jerzy Szmajdzinski, army generals and many key political figures.
The bodies of the victims were taken to Moscow for identification. "Everything has already been arranged in Moscow for forensic studies, for accommodating the relatives of those killed and also people who will be accompanying the delegation," Shoigu said.
As of Sunday, 24 bodies from the plane crash in Smolensk were identified, the Russian Prosecutor’s Office Investigative Committee told Interfax. These are the passengers whose bodies were not badly damaged in the accident or who had their passports with them, it added.
The body of the late Polish president was sent to Warsaw on Sunday. The farewell ceremony for Kaczynski, held at the Severny military airfield, was attended by Putin. The honorary ceremony involved sentry guards from the naval, air force and ground troops.
Reasons
The investigative agencies are analyzing various theories behind the Saturday crash near Smolensk. The main theories include "bad weather conditions, human error, a mechanical fault, and others," an official from the Investigative Committee within the Russian prosecution system told Interfax on Saturday.
Detailed information will be available after the Tu-154’s flight recorders are deciphered. "The flight recorders have been found at the scene of the catastrophe. Their examination has already begun and it should shed light on the causes of the accident," Shoigu said.
"The trajectory of the flight which I traced twice today indicates that there was a deviation from the runway not only in terms of altitude but also width of no less than 150 meters," he said.
The flight reorders were taken to a special laboratory of the Interstate Aviation Committee and opened in the presence of the Polish officials, including Polish prosecutors, as well as officials from the Russian Prosecutor’s Office Investigative Committee, the Russian Transport Ministry’s spokesperson said.
The cockpit flight recorder indicates that the crew of the Polish presidential jet decided to attempt a landing despite the recommendations of the Russian side to the contrary, Bastrykin said.
"The extracted recording confirms the nature of the conversation," he said at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the crisis center at the scene of the crash.
Judging by the recording of the exchanges between the crew and air traffic controllers, the pilots were advised against landing in Smolensk, however, these recommendations were not followed, Bastrykin said.
First Deputy Chief of the Russian Air Force Staff Lt. Gen. Alexander Alyoshin also said that the crew aboard the Polish President’s plane failed to carry out instructions given by Smolensk air traffic controllers.
"At a distance of 1.5 kilometers, the air traffic control team reported that the crew had increased the plane’s vertical landing speed and was descending below the glide path. The chief air traffic controller ordered the crew to switch to a horizontal flight mode and when the crew failed to do so gave orders several times to leave for a reserve airfield," he said.
"Nevertheless, the crew continued the descent. Unfortunately, the result was a tragic [accident]," he said.
The Investigative Committee ruled out a technical fault of the airliner as the likely cause of its crash near Smolensk.
"We have deciphered the tape reel and conducted a preliminary analysis, we will look at in more detail in Moscow, but I repeat: the recording that we have confirms that there were no technical problems with the plane," he said.
"The pilot was informed about the difficult weather conditions, and yet he decided to attempt a landing," he said.
"The control panel data we recovered yesterday confirm the flight data recordings," he said.
Reaction
Medvedev offered condolences to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in a telephone conversation on Saturday, the Kremlin said.
Tusk thanked Medvedev for his condolences and praised the promptness of actions relevant Russian ministries and other agencies are taking to handle the incident, it said.
Later that day Tusk arrived in Smolensk on Saturday, where he and Putin laid flowers at the crash site of the Polish presidential plane. The Russian and Polish premiers also laid flowers near a fragment of the fuselage of the crashed Tu-154. Tusk knelt when laying a bouquet of flowers.
The crash site was also attended by the Polish president’s brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
Medvedev also had a telephone conversation with Polish Sejm Marshal Bronislaw Komorowski, who in line with the constitution has become the acting head of state, the Kremlin said.
Russia will hold a national day of mourning on Monday in line with Medvedev’s order. "On behalf of the Russian people I am expressing my deepest and most sincere condolences to the Polish people, a feeling of sympathy and support for the families and friends of the dead," Medvedev said.
He said that he and the Russian people "are shocked by the horrible tragedy – the death of President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria and the Polish citizens that were aboard the plane that crashed."
"All Russians share your grief and mourning," Medvedev said in his address.
Ukraine also declared April 12 a day of mourning. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych announced his decision on Sunday during his visit to the Polish Embassy in Kyiv.
