The Polish president is dead.

[3mk]

Please remember the 96 members of parliment that died today in a plane crash when they were visiting Katyn for the anniversiry of this tragic event.

Please keep them in your prayers and remember them all.


This is one of the worst days in Polish history

[shadowwolf]

my heart goes out to you all

[robert odulinski]

Please remember the 96 members of parliment that died today in a plane crash when they were visiting Katyn for the anniversiry of this tragic event.

Please keep them in your prayers and remember them all.


This is one of the worst days in Polish history

Terrible news and reminiscent of the 'accident' that befell Sikorski.

Does anyone know anything about the pilot ?

Wieczne odpoczywanie........

]Amor Patriae Nostra Lex

[longues]

Terrible

[Chris Szypulewski]

Very sad day for us all

Is it not strange that on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Katyn,A russian designed plane built in the 90's carrying the top heads of state of Poland goes down in Russia killing all passengers and they cannot find the black box !!!!!!(yet)

Is it confirmed that the head of the Polish Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrzej BŁASIK was on board? and if so who was flying the plane?

[Chris Szypulewski]

I took this picture last year in Warsaw.

[GFC]

Among the dead are Anna Walentynowicz, a true giant in Polish History, whose gnarled hand I had the honor of kissing in the 1980's

And Father Bronisław Gostomski, Pastor at Saint Andrew Bobla Church in London, considered to be the Polish “garrison church” by Polish veterans in London, and the repository of the Matka Bozka Kozielska

Anna Walentynowicz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ko?ció? ?w. Andrzeja Boboli w Londynie

[Adrian Stevenson]

My condolences to the families and all the Polish People. A very tragic event.

Cheers, Ade.

[DRAGON]

A total trajedy. What a shock and loss for the country. My sincere condolences, my thoughts and prayers for all who have suffered.
Dragon

[big ned]

A tradgedy indeed, the consequences of which could be dire for Poland itself. But let us be sure of the circumstances as they are known thus far. The aircraft was over 20 years old and had experienced problems with it's ground steering in the past. It had undergone a deep service in December 2009 by the manufacturer Tupolev in Russia, a point conspirisist theorists will play on. But all in all, non of the above is really relevant, it happens all over the aviation world on a daily basis without fatal results, and as such is not unusual.

What is unusual is that the Presidential aircraft that attempted to land at Smolensk was advised to re-route to Moscow as air traffic control considered the weather too foggy/misty to land, other aircraft had been advised the same and took heed. The presidential aircraft, flown by an experienced Polish crew, chose, for whatever reasons, to ignore this advice( on orders from government members aboard perhaps?) to attempt to land the aircraft.

The fact that the aircraft aborted three landings and then went round again for the fourth, and fatal attempt, speaks volumes, were the crew out of their minds or under pressure from the powers that be? Suffice to say that the aircraft was seen to approach the runway in a normal attitude in a shallow turn, BUT AT A VERY LOW ALTITUDE FOR THE MANOUVERE, striking trees at approximately 700 metres from the end of the runway, causing the airframe to disintegrate. This smacks more of CFIT(controlled flight into terrain) than any conspiracy theory that has already been mentioned here.

I fully understand the concerns of Polish members here for the potential consequences of this disaster, but let cool heads prevail until the facts become apparent, which may take many months yet....But the truth will out.

Regards, Ned.