Polish Plane Crash Probe Points to Pilot Error

Posted on May 20, 2010

Wikimedia Commons / www.prezydent.pl

Gone, not forgotten: Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, Maria, both perished in the plane crash on April 10.

There has been speculation since last month’s tragic plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 96 others that foul play might have brought the Tupolev Tu-154 down on that foggy night of April 10. However, early findings of a joint Polish-Russian probe into the crash point to pilot error as the probable cause—and if not, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is at the ready to go after any potential perpetrators.  —KA

The Christian Science Monitor:

Though investigators did not offer final conclusions, they insisted that the aircraft was not brought down by technical failure or “terrorism,” which may help to quell some of the Internet speculation that the tragedy might have been a KGB-style assassination of Kaczynski, who was not regarded as a friend of Russia during his time in office.

“It’s very important that this investigation be seen to be transparent and impartial,” says Alexei Mukhin, director of the independent Center for Political Information in Moscow. “Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered that it be done with full openness and cooperation with the Polish authorities, because it’s very important that there be no suggestion of any coverup. Putin made it clear that if any blame should be found on the Russian side, there will be punishment.”

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