Russians release crash info

21st May 2010

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Two people entered the cockpit of President Lech Kaczynski’s aircraft before it crashed killing all on board, investigators have revealed in a report that has raised new questions over the causes of the disaster.

A preliminary report released by the Russian committee investigating the Smolensk crash found that the voices of two people were recorded on the aircraft’s black box.

“It has been established that in the cockpit there were individuals who were not members of the crew,” said Tatyana Anodina, head of Russia’s Inter-State Air Committee, which investigates crashes in the former Soviet Union.

According to the PAP newswire, one of the voices belonged to General Andrzej Blasik, the commander of the Polish air force. Just who the other one was, remains a mystery.

Investigators also discovered that the door to the cockpit remained open during the flight.

Edmund Klich, Poland’s envoy to the investigation, said only that “certain suggestions” were made by the passengers, and that he doubted they had had any bearing on the fate of the flight.

Despite this the revelations prompted fresh questions over whether the crew had been pressured into landing despite repeated warnings from Smolensk air-traffic control that with visibility very poor landing would be impossible.

At the time of the crash on the morning of April 10, visibility was apparently down to just 200 metres, far short of the recommended minimum distance for Smolensk of 1,000 metres.

Alexei Morozov, head of the technical commission from the Inter-State Air Committee, said that that the aircraft was on auto-pilot just seconds before the crash, and an automated terrain warning voice told the crew to “pull up” 18 seconds before the plane hit a tree with its left wing. The warning “terrain ahead” was also issued twice.

The report highlighted the role the shallow ravine that the aircraft crashed into may have had in the accident. “The presence of this ravine can have a natural influence on the readings of the radio altimeter,” Mr Morozov said. “This is one of the subjects the technical commission is working on.”

The report ruled out, however, terrorism and technical failures as causes of the crash. Investigators found no evidence of explosives and noted that the aircraft’s engines were running when they hit the ground.