Polish Report: Russians Share Responsibility for Smolensk Plane Crash

Posted July 29th, 2011 at 6:40 am (UTC-5)
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A Polish investigation into the plane crash last year that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others finds Russian air traffic controllers gave incorrect instructions to the plane's pilots.

The report, released Friday, also said lighting was bad at the airstrip where the plane crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk.

The long-awaited assessment also criticized the Polish side, saying the main pilot was inexperienced and was also the only Russian-speaking crew member.

A Russian report on the crash released earlier this year put all the blame for the accident on the Polish side, raising tensions between the two nations.

Russian investigators said the Polish pilots faced pressure from the political officials on the plane to try to land in heavy fog. But the new Polish report said it did not find there was any such pressure.

The Polish president and his delegation were on their way to commemorate the 1940 massacre of some 22,000 Polish police officers in Russia's Katyn forest when the plane went down.