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Updated On: 12 April, 2010 09:02 AM IST | | Agencies
Lech Kaczynski may have ignored warning to divert jet after interpreting it as a way to sabotage his visit
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Lech Kaczynski may have ignored warning to divert jet after interpreting it as a way to sabotage his visit
Investigators are trying to determine what caused the devastating plane crash that killed a contingent of Poland's leaders -- including President Lech Kaczynski. Observers say, a one-time anti-communist with a gift for taunting the Kremlin, the Polish president had every reason to believe he was not welcome in Russia.
Meanwhile, Russian and Polish authorities are deciphering flight data recorders from the aging Soviet-built Tu-154 airliner that crashed while trying to land in deep fog in the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 aboard.
Russian dispatchers ordered the plane's pilot several times to divert to another airport in Moscow or in Minsk, Russian authorities have said.u00a0 For reasons so far unknown, the plane carrying a Polish presidential delegation to commemorate the Soviet massacre of Polish officers in the Katyn forest seven decades ago came in to land regardless. "The crew continued the descent," said Alexander Alyoshin, of the Russian air force. "Unfortunately this ended in tragedy."
But there is speculation that Kaczynski might have interpreted the order as a way to sabotage his visit to a memorial service for 22,000 imprisoned Polish officers who were murdered during World War II by Soviet secret police in the Katyn Forest.
Investigators are trying to determine what caused the devastating plane crash that killed a contingent of Poland's leaders -- including President Lech Kaczynski. Observers say, a one-time anti-communist with a gift for taunting the Kremlin, the Polish president had every reason to believe he was not welcome in Russia.
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| Tragic end: Russian rescuers inspect the wreckage of a Polish government Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft which crashed on Saturday near Smolensk airport. Pic/AFP |
Meanwhile, Russian and Polish authorities are deciphering flight data recorders from the aging Soviet-built Tu-154 airliner that crashed while trying to land in deep fog in the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 aboard.
Russian dispatchers ordered the plane's pilot several times to divert to another airport in Moscow or in Minsk, Russian authorities have said.u00a0 For reasons so far unknown, the plane carrying a Polish presidential delegation to commemorate the Soviet massacre of Polish officers in the Katyn forest seven decades ago came in to land regardless. "The crew continued the descent," said Alexander Alyoshin, of the Russian air force. "Unfortunately this ended in tragedy."
But there is speculation that Kaczynski might have interpreted the order as a way to sabotage his visit to a memorial service for 22,000 imprisoned Polish officers who were murdered during World War II by Soviet secret police in the Katyn Forest.
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| Poland mourns... Soldiers carry the coffin of President Lech Kaczynski after its arrival in Warsaw yesterday Read Next Story Trending StoriesLatest Photos |
