Polish investigators have concluded that pilot error was actually to blame for last year’s Smolensk plane tragedy, local media report. The crash in Russia claimed the lives of President Lech Kaczynski and many of the country’s political elite.
A Polish report on the crash is to be published this coming Friday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced earlier.
The report was completed last month, but the government wanted to publish it along with translations into English and Russian. However, due to pressure from political circles, a deadline for publication has been set, after which the original will be revealed regardless of whether or not the translations are ready.
Warsaw had previously challenged the findings of an international aviation commission, which blamed the pilot, and carried out its own investigation. Some Polish politicians accused Moscow of rigging the joint investigation and even of having a hand in the crash itself.
The presidential plane crashed in April 2010, while trying to land on a Russian air field near Smolensk in poor weather conditions. All 96 people on board were killed.
An intergovernmental panel found the crew of the Polish Tupolev Tu-154M lacked the training to pilot such kinds of aircraft. They also ignored orders from Russian air traffic controllers to abort the landing and go to a backup airport.