Polish Premier Tusk receives final report on Kaczynski plane crash

A Polish investigation commission has submitted to Prime Minister Donald Tusk a final report on the circumstances of the Tu-154 plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski last year, Polish media said on Monday.

The commission said that the report would be simultaneously translated into English and Russian.

Tusk earlier said that the report would be published without any changes as soon as it is translated.

Polish investigators have conducted three test flights of another presidential Tu-154 airliner to scrutinize the last seconds of the flight, including whether the pilots had a chance to pull the plane up and if they could have gone around the landing site a second time.

On April 10, 2010, the Polish president’s plane crashed in heavy fog as it attempted to land at an airfield near the western Russian city of Smolensk.

The presidential delegation was flying to Smolensk to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1940 Katyn massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police. Then Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and a host of other top officials on board were killed.

The Russia-based Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK), along with leading flight safety experts, laid the blame for the crash on the Polish crew. Polish politicians denounced the report, saying it was one-sided or a cover-up.

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