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Smolensk air disaster

Coordinates: 54°49′31.19″N 32°3′10.28″E / 54.8253306°N 32.0528556°E / 54.8253306; 32.0528556
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Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash
Tupolev Tu-154M at Zagreb Airport, during President Kaczyński's visit to Croatia in Feb 2010
Accident
Date10 April 2010[1]
SummaryUnder investigation[1]
Site1.5 km (0.9 mi) short of runway at Smolensk-North air base[2]
54°49′31.19″N 32°3′10.28″E / 54.8253306°N 32.0528556°E / 54.8253306; 32.0528556
Aircraft
Aircraft typeTupolev Tu-154
Operator36 SPLT, Polish Air Force
Registration101
Flight originFrédéric Chopin Airport,
Warsaw, Poland
DestinationSmolensk Military ("Smolensk-North") air base
Smolensk, Russia
Passengers88
Crew8
Fatalities96 (all)[3]

On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft, belonging to the Polish Goverment, crashed just north of Smolensk, Russia, killing Poland's President Lech Kaczyński and other officials, including the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army and senior military officers, the central bank governor, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and dignitaries in the government, vice-speakers and members of the upper and lower houses of the parliament and senior members of clergy of various denominations, on their way to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.[4]

The cause of the crash is under investigation, it is reported that the pilot attempted four times to land at Smolensk-North air base in heavy fog, ignoring the advice of the ground control to divert to a safer airport in Minsk or Moscow. On the fourth attempt the plane struck trees 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) from the airfield and broke into pieces across the wooded area.

All 96 passengers and crew aboard died[3], making this one of the deadliest disasters in Polish history and the most deadly aircraft disaster worldwide since the crash of Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 in July 2009.[5]

Accident

Flight map

The 36th Special Aviation Regiment's Tupolev Tu-154M[6] carrying the Polish President Lech Kaczyński crashed at 10:56 MSD, (08:56 CEST, 06:56 UTC),[7] near the village of Pechyorsk, just north of Smolensk, Russia that Kaczyński was due to visit to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.[7] The plane took off at 07:23 GMT + 1 from Warsaw Frédéric Chopin Airport, carrying 88 passengers and 8 crew;[citation needed] the presidential aide Zofia Kruszyńska-Gust fell sick just before the trip and did not board the plane. However early reports were confused on the numbers.[8]

The crash occurred in fog (500 m (1,600 ft)* visibility) about 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) from the Smolensk North airfield,[9] 300 to 400 metres (980 to 1,310 ft) off the landing path,[10] after the pilots attempted a go-around.[11]

About an hour before the crash, a Yak-40 jet also belonging to the Polish government [12] carrying Polish journalists from the president's pool landed at the airbase without incident,[13] but when the presidential plane arrived the base was closed because of thick fog and the pilot was advised by flight control to land in Moscow or Minsk; however he decided to continue with the original flight plan and the crash occurred on the fourth approach after three failed attempts.[14][15] The cause of the crash was initially attributed to crew error, and investigators and criminal law experts were dispatched to the crash site.[16][17][18]

The Governor of Smolensk Oblast, Sergey Antufyev, confirmed that there were no survivors in the crash. The plane, reported to have been flying at a very low altitude, clipped trees and crashed into the ground, then caught fire.[7] Russian state television reported that the jet crashed about a kilometre short of the runway on its fourth attempt to land in heavy fog, shortly before 11 a.m. GMT + 3. Pictures from the scene showed parts of the airplane charred and strewn through a wooded area. Some pieces, including one of the wheel wells, were upside-down.[7] The Russian rescue workers later recovered the body of Polish President Lech Kaczynski. Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoted an unnamed senior official at the site of the plane crash in the western Russian city of Smolensk. He offered no further details but said work remained to identify many of the bodies. Some of the identification would need DNA analysis. Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin said that bodies of those killed in the crash will be brought to Moscow for identification. [19]

Investigation

Within hours after the crash, the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev announced the establishment of a special commission for the investigation of the accident. The commission will be supervised by the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.[20][21][22] An Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor General of Russia started a criminal case in accordance with a "violation of the safety rules" of the Russian Criminal Code.[23]

Putin and Medvedev promised Polish prime minister Donald Tusk they would work closely with Poland in investigating the crash. Initial signs pointed to an accident, possibly due to the fog that is very common in the area in Spring and Autumn, as well as pilot error.

Around 13:53 GMT + 1 on the day of the crash, the recovery of the first "black box" flight recorder was confirmed by Sergey Shoygu, the Russian Minister of Emergency Situations. The second was found at about 15:45 UTC.[24] At 21:48 it was reported that the recordings confirm that the pilot was making attempts to land against the advice of air traffic controllers.[25]

Preliminary data indicated that the plane hit the treetops as it was making the approach to the airport in poor visibility, the ITAR-Tass agency quoted Marina Gridneva, an official with the Russian general prosecutor's office.[26]

Initial theories

Pilot ignoring advice from air traffic control

A mission control operator told Reuters anonymously "The pilot was advised to fly to Moscow or Minsk because of heavy fog, but he still decided to land. No one should have been landing in that fog."[27]

Alexandr Aleshin, the First Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of the Russian Air Force, said that the plane increased its descent rate and went below the glide slope 1.5 km (0.93 mi) from the runway. Controllers instructed the pilot to abort the approach; when he did not, controllers advised the aircraft to return to the reserve landing point. This order was repeated several times but the crew continued with the approach and crashed.[28]

There is a speculation that the pilot tried to land repeatedly against controller's advice because of pressure from the delegation, eager to make the important ceremony.[29] The President had not been invited to the joint Russian-Polish event that had happened three days earlier, which was attended by the Prime Ministers of Poland and Russia. In August 2008, the pilot of Kaczyński's plane was threatened with dismissal when he refused to land in Tbilisi during the South Ossetian war between Georgia and Russia.[30]

On 23 January 2008, a Polish military plane with senior officers crashed under similar landing conditions.[31] Improper crew selection, bad weather and pilot distraction were cited as the major causes as inexperienced pilots, trying to see the ground, failed to notice the plane's losing altitude.[32]

Lack of instrument landing system

The Smolensk-North, a former military air base now in mixed military-civilian use, does not have an Instrument Landing System[33] (ILS) that would make a landing in dense fog a routine operation; the military cargo airplanes operated out of it can land and take-off without ILS, with only basic landing support in normal mode.

History of the aircraft

The aircraft, Tupolev Tu-154M construction number 90A837, was manufactured at Kuibyshev aviation plant (№18) on 29 June 1990 for the Polish Air Force.[34]

Several hours after theories about the weather and pilot error were floated, the BBC reported that questions about the 20-year-old aeroplane were being raised: "in late 2008 Kaczynski had suffered a couple of scares. Problems with the aircraft's steering mechanism delayed his departure from Mongolia, forcing him to take a charter flight to Tokyo. (...) However, the aircraft had recently undergone a major overhaul and Aleksey Gusev, the head of the maintenance plant that carried out the work, told Polish TV that it should not have had technical problems."[35] According to a Polish military magazine the airplane was serviced in December 2009 at the manufacturer and received 5-year/7500-flight-hour warranty; the crash happened just after 138 flight hours.[36] Paul Duffy, an expert on Russian aviation, stated in 2004 that in 28 crashes of the Tu-154 up to then, few were due to technical failure, and the hull-loss rate was normal for the number in service, the number of years it has been operated, and for the technology of the aircraft.[35]

Political aftermath

According to the Polish Constitution, on the President's death his duties were taken on by the Marshal of the Sejm (chairman of the lower house of the parliament) who became Acting President of Poland.[37] Within a fortnight, he must announce the date of popular presidential election to be held within a further 60 days on a weekend, i. e. latest on 20 June. Lech Kaczyński was up for re-election in late September or 2-3 October, before the end of his first five-year term.[38]

Despite the deaths of the president and numerous officials, the crash is not expected to impair the activities of the Polish government, since no cabinet ministers were aboard the plane. However the Polish Armed Forces were dealt a severe blow, since all of their senior commanding officers were killed; their duties were automatically taken over by respective deputy commanders, following standard contingency plans for such a situation.

The commemoration of 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre was split up because of the political conflict between the Liberal government of prime minister Donald Tusk and Conservative president Kaczyński.[39] On 7 April, Tusk along with government officials and members of his Civic Platform party went to Katyn[40] on invitation from the prime minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin.[41] The official commemoration, organized by Polish Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites, was scheduled on 10 April. Nevertheless, both ruling coalition and opposition were represented on the plane, with 6 and 8 members of the Sejm, as well as 1 and 2 of the Senate, respectively, some of them well known in Poland. Many passengers were actively opposed to Tusk's policies, including:

The Marshal of the Sejm Bronisław Komorowski had previously been announced as the Civic Platform's candidate in the presidential election.[49]

Reaction in Poland

Crowds on the Royal Route, Warsaw

The Polish public reacted with shock and grief to the disaster. Almost immediately after the news broke, mourners assembled before the Presidential Palace in Warsaw to lay hundreds of tributes, including flowers, wreaths, and candles. Elsewhere in Warsaw, Poles taped black ribbons to their front windows. It was reported that many villages, such as Gorzno, were practically deserted while their residents stayed home to watch coverage of the tragedy on television. Komorowski, as acting president, called for a two-minute moment of silence on 11 April, and formally declared a national week of mourning.

In Kraków, the Sigismund Bell of the Wawel Cathedral was tolled by twenty monks.

Former president Aleksander Kwaśniewski told TVN24 that “It is a cursed place. It sends shivers down my spine. First the flower of the Second Polish Republic is murdered in the forests around Smolensk, now the intellectual elite of the Third Polish Republic die in this tragic plane crash when approaching Smolensk airport.”[50]

According to the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk: "The contemporary world has not seen a tragedy of such proportions".[51]

Former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who had himself suffered injuries in a helicopter crash while in office, said that Poland's aircraft were known to be in need of replacement. "I once said that we will one day meet in a funeral procession, and that is when we will take the decision to replace the aircraft fleet," he said.[52]

Reaction in Russia

Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin in church
Dmitry Medvedev addresses people of Poland (transcript in English).

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed their condolences to the acting President and speaker of the parliament, Bronislaw Komorowski.[53] 12 April 2010 will be a national day of mourning in Russia.

Chairman of International Committee of the State Duma Konstantin Kosachev said that "Katyn claimed yet more victims". Chairman of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov has expressed condolences.[54]

Russians and tourists in Moscow and Kaliningrad went to Embassies of Poland with flowers and candles [55].

Notable passengers

Main article: Passengers in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash

On board were the military joint chiefs of staff (army, air force, navy), the central bank governor, a deputy foreign minister, head army chaplain, head of the National Security Office, deputy parliament speaker, Olympic Committee head, head civil rights commissioner and at least two presidential aides and ten or so widely known national lawmakers (including core members of the Law and Justice party), the Polish foreign ministry said. Kaczynski's wife, Maria, also died.[56]

International response

Main article: International response to the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash

A great many countries and international organisations have expressed sorrow and condolence to the people of Poland over the crash.

References

  1. ^ a b "Названа предварительная версия крушения самолета президента Польши". Lenta.ru (in Russian). Rambler Media Group. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  2. ^ "Президент Польши погиб в катастрофе Ту-154 – всего 97 жертв". Newsru.com (in Russian). 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  3. ^ a b "Polish president killed in plane crash;– Yahoo! News". News.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
  4. ^ "Polish president killed in plane crash". CNN. Turner Broadcasting. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  5. ^ "Most Recent Fatal or Significant Plane Crashes". airsafe.com. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
  6. ^ "'Great tragedy' decimates Poland's leadership". MSNBC. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  7. ^ a b c d "Polish President Lech Kaczynski dies in plane crash". BBC. British Broadcasting Company. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  8. ^ White, Gregory (2010-04-10). "Polish President, Others Killed in Plane Crash". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones. Retrieved 2010-04-10. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  10. ^ "Polish president killed in air crash near Russia's Smolensk". RT. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  11. ^ "Polish president feared dead in Russian plane crash". Reuters. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  12. ^ "Dziennikarze do Smoleńska lecieli także z kłopotami". Gazeta Wyborcza. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.}
  13. ^ "Escaped Death: Polish journalists meant to be on Lech Kaczynski crashed plane". RT. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  14. ^ "Polish president Lech Kaczynski killed in plane crash". The Guardian. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  15. ^ "Polish President Killed in Plane Crash". Sky News. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  16. ^ "Pilot error may have caused Polish crash". China Daily. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  17. ^ "Human error caused crash of Polish president's airplane in Russia". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  18. ^ "Thick fog led to the plane crash – The Investigative Committee". The Voice of Russia. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  19. ^ PTI (10 April,2010). "Body of Polish President recovered from crash site". The Hindu. Moscow. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Президент России". Kremlin.ru. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  21. ^ "Президент России". Kremlin.ru. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  22. ^ "Расследование обстоятельств гибели президента Польши поручили Путину". Lenta.ru. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  23. ^ "По факту катастрофы Ту-154 возбуждено уголовное дело" (in Russian). newsru.com. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  24. ^ News24.vom: 'Black boxes' of Lech Kaczynski's plane found, 10 April 2010
  25. ^ Rianovosti: Pilot of Polish president's plane was advised not to land, 10 April 2010
  26. ^ "Polish leader, 96 others dead in Russia jet crash – Yahoo! News". News.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  27. ^ "Polish president, top officials killed in plane crash". Reuters Online. Reuters. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  28. ^ Экипаж разбившегося под Смоленском самолета не выполнил указаний руководителя полетов аэродрома «Смоленск» INTERFAX, 10 April 2010.
  29. ^ Tu-154 likely not to blame for crash: expert, CTV News Canada, Minute 5:08 of the video
  30. ^ "Пилот отказался сажать в Тбилиси самолет с президентами (Pilot refused to land aircraft with presidents in Tbilisi)" (in Russian). NewsRu. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  31. ^ "Europe | No survivors in Polish air crash". BBC News. 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  32. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Casa C-295M 019 Miroslawiec AB". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  33. ^ "ZDF spezial: Polnischer Präsident stirbt bei Flugzeugabsturz" (in German). 2010-04-10.
  34. ^ Nine151, Peter (July 2004). Soviet Transports. West Drayton, Middlesex, United Kingdom: Dutch Aviation Society and The Aviation Hobby Shop. pp. 570, 589. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ a b "Crash focusses attention on Tupolev-154". British Broadcasting Company. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  36. ^ "Katastrofa Tu-154M pod Smoleńskiem". Altair (in Polish). 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  37. ^ "The Constitution of the Republic of Poland"., Article 131
  38. ^ Constitution, article 128
  39. ^ "Wyborcza.pl". Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  40. ^ "Gazeta.pl". Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  41. ^ "Wyborcza.pl". Retrieved 10 April 2010.
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  49. ^ "Gazeta.pl". Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  50. ^ "President of Poland Killed in Plane Crash in Russia". The New York Times. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  51. ^ Agata Kondzińska. "Nadzwyczajne posiedzenie rządu: – Takiego dramatu świat nie widział". Wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  52. ^ Kulish, Nicholas. "Polish President Dies in Jet Crash in Russia". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  53. ^ "Russian leaders express condolences over tragic death of Polish president". rian.ru. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  54. ^ "Глава международного комитета Госдумы: "Катынь забрала новые жертвы"" (in Russian). newsru.com. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  55. ^ http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=352470
  56. ^ "Polish leader, 96 others dead in Russia jet crash - Yahoo! News". News.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-04-10.

See also

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