Just coming in via Breaking News Online:
Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were killed when the presidential plane crashed near an airport in western Russia.
A total of 87 people were on board the Tupolev 154 aircraft. There were no survivors.
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That passenger count has been revised to over 130; see update below. An earlier BBC report added these details:
The plane was reportedly heading to an airport in the western city of Smolensk when it crashed.
Mr Kaczynski was due to visit Smolensk to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, when Soviet troops killed thousands of Poles.
The Russian emergencies ministry told Itar-Tass news agency the plane crashed at 1056 Moscow time (0656 GMT).
Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andrianova said it had been flying from Moscow to Smolensk, but had no details on the identities of those killed.
The Polish Foreign Ministry said the president and his wife were aboard the plane, according to the Associated Press news agency.
The London Daily News adds:
Polish Londoners are waking up to the news that their president Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife have been killed in a tragic aviation disaster, when a plane from Warsaw destined for the Russian city Smolensk crashed killing at least 87 people.
Breaking News Online now lists the passenger count as 132, with no survivors.
Update: AP confirms death of Kaczynski and spouse among the passengers.
Late Update (10:40 AM PDT): Arthur Chrenkoff explores “The Curse of Katyn”: “Seventy years after the Katyn Massacre, the president of Poland — and many other Poles — have died on Russian soil.”
Glenn Reynolds sardonically quips, “Some people are suspicious. Nonsense. With Vladimir Putin taking personal charge of the investigation, the truth is certain to come out.”
Heh. In the meantime, the first comment under this post, from someone named “Michał Borsuk,” added less than an hour after my post went live, was a helpful reminder that this isn’t any Putin-fueled conspiracy — which is certainly reassuring, since I never said it was, nor did the initial reports I quoted above.
I reserve the right to revise and extend my remarks, but at least for now, I think this headline by Orrin Judd sums up the incident based on the early reporting, far better than any conspiracy theories.
Update: Richard Fernandez on “The Woods of Smolensk.”
There is no conspiracy story here. as he was 6 months before elections, which he had no chance of winning. His support was a single digit percent.
Borsuk: There probably is no conspiracy,but please don’t tell us that you know what has happened. Lech was a Polish patriot who distained Russian influence in Eastern Europe.
Whether conspiracy or not, tragic. Thoughts and prayers for the people of Poland and the families and friends.
Life is but a vapor…
A tragic accident:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,688258,00.html
“Earlier reports stated that 132 people died in the crash, but the Polish Foreign Ministry is now reporting that 96 people died, of whom 88 were part of the Polish delegation.
The plane used by the president on Saturday, a Tupolev-154 which was at least 20 years old, had taken off from Warsaw. It crashed into trees during its approach to Smolensk and burst into flames. A Polish government spokesperson said there had been fog in the area. According to press reports, the pilots of the plane attempted to land four times”
From the Drudge link it said the pilot had been recommended by air traffic control to land at another airport that wasn’t fogged in. Apparently Russia leaves it up to the pilot as to whether or not to take the recommendation or not.
The Tupolev Tu-154 had been overhauled a few months earlier and was reported to be ‘in perfect’ condition. These are not exactly reliable planes.
I’m still wondering if anyone thinks it a wise move to enter Russia for the purpose of marking any event that puts a negative spotlight on Russians. I hope the Poles send their own forensic teams to examine and recover the remains and aircraft wreckage.
I suspect that this was just an accident. The Polish government officials merely pushed their luck a bit too far. Poorly maintained airplanes might even be the norm in that part of the world.
Horribly sad. I’m sure the Polish people are in shock. My deepest condolences.
Let me see if I understand the previous posts.
The President of Poland and many senior officials accidently committed suicide when a pilot violating all reason crashed the plane.
I assume the pilot was Polish and knew what he was doing.
Meanwhile all the knowlege we have of Putin and for that matter our own President tells us that they will be perfectly delighted by what happened.
I read on German Yahoo news that flight controllers tried to get the pilot to divert to Minsk because the fog was so heavy at Smolensk, but the pilot went ahead as planned. They said he attempted to land 4 times and then crashed into trees at the end of the runway. I assume the Russians will have recording of transmissions betwen flight controllers and pilot, so let’s wait and see.
There were other Polish officials on board the plane. This will be a tragedy for the whole country.
132 dead is an exaggeration. 88 delegates, 8 crew, 96 total.
Unfortunately, the delegation was much of Poland’s civil and military leadership. The country is decapitated again, as it was by the Katyn massacre. Major tragedy, and sincere condolences to Poland.
See Richard Fernandez who is on top of the story at Pajamas Media.
The pilot is called the “pilot-in-command” for a reason. He and he alone is responsible for the final decision as to where and when to land the airplane[well, assuming he still has fuel]. This will very likely be another “human error” when the final investigation is over. In fog the pilot is supposed to have the runway in sight at an altitude of not less than 200 feet above the ground. Assuming he was flying on a standard instrument approach he would have been descending on an electronic glide path at an angle of three degrees at a speed of about 120 knots. If he was a little slow, or if he didn’t increase his speed in time before he saw the ground but was passing or about to pass 200′ AGL, and pulled up abruptly, he might have stalled the aircraft. That would account for the report from some witnesses that the left wing was down. And, if it was his fourth attempt, he was probably tired, frustrated, and had made up his mind that he was going to get it down this time.
The died when they have in mind about money borrower in tenure of Pope John Paul De second who visited Anambra state Nigeria who believe that people in Nigeria legal tenders will not like Biafra to exist.
The plane crashed on the first landing attempt, not the fourth.
http://www.avherald.com/h?article=429ec5fa&opt=0
Reports of fog are suspect as visibility was 1/4 mile.