President Kaczynski, Wife and Polish Delegation Killed in Plane Crash

The President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, accompanied by his wife Maria and many officials of the Polish government, were killed in a plane crash while attempting to land in Smolensk, Russia today. The plane brushed tree tops in bad foggy weather, before crashing and bursting into flames.

There were no survivors among the 132 persons on board. The presidential plane departed from Warsaw and came down at 11:00 am (7:00 am GMT) about a mile (1.5km) from the airport and 225 km from Moscow. The Polish delegation was traveling to Smolensk for a Katyn commemoration ceremony.

The pilot was told Smolensk's Severny airport was closed because of thick fog, according to the news agency Interfax. He was told by air traffic controllers to divert to another landing site and given a choice of landing instead in either Moscow or Minsk, the capital of Belarus. But the pilot decided to continue with the original flight plan and land at Smolensk.

He made three unsuccessful attempts to land before the crash. On the fourth try, the plane fell apart in the tree tops, Interfax said, citing officials at Smolensk's interior ministry. It seems rather incredible that the pilot chose to make so many unsuccessful attempts.

Russia's foreign ministry confirmed the cause of the air catastrophe was bad weather. "According to provisional information the crash happened because the plane failed to land at the military airport near Smolensk in conditions of severe fog.”

Read more: http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/10-04-2010/112962-president_kaczynski_wife_polish-0