News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


Well , that would be nothing new in Russia...but i am sure that any mistakes will be uncovered , and lessons learned from this tragedy...

The days when the Russian leaders were able to hide things from their own people , and the world are gone now..if the Russians screwed up...we will know about it...

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


If there was...then i would condem the Russians as loudly as anyone else....and believe me...the Russian people themselves would not be too happy about their government bumping off the head of a neighbouring country....

Russia needs to be part of Europe , it needs business and econonmic trade with Europe , if they were found to be involved in any sinister plot to kill a Polish president they would be well and truly screwed...even their own people would turn on them...

But there is not any evidence of foul play...and i doubt very much there will be...

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


Better to be wise than stupid....!

Yes i read the stuff Seanus posted , but i still have not seen anything that changes my mind about this crash....

Have a look on the sites where pilots chat about stuff...nobody on there thinks it was anything other than an accident caused by human error....

As i said , i am quite happy to change my mind and blame the Russians if i see any evidence they were at fault...but i just have not seen any yet....

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


How do you lure a plane...??? Some tasty jet fuel , a huge magnet...or a sexy plane of the oposite sex...???

Life / How to Politely Refuse a Drink in Poland [72]


This resulted in an old tea drinking babcia being completely off her face.....and a pot plant with an alcohol problem....!

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]

only a day ago a Tu154 of the same type involved in the Smolensk disaster suffered a power and systems failure while approaching Moscow....

Somehow the pilots managed to get it to an emergency military runway , which had only a short runway , way too short for a Tu154 , but there was no other option...

There was no chance of a second attempt , as they had no power , so they had to get it right first time...

The pilots got the aircraft down on the runway , but ran 200 meters off the end of the runway and into the forest , fortunatly with minimal damage to the aircraft , and no casualties among the 100 plus people on board....

Dam fine piece of flying..great pilots , and it shows the old 154 is quite a tough aircraft...

I think maybe its had its day though..perhaps time to retire it now....?

Life / Polish ghost stories [38]


Ah this will be the forest near Drawsko pomorskie . now a huge Nato training ground , but for many years the place where the legion of the dead ride ride into battle with the enemies of Polska...

ooh i am scared now...hold my hand Shewolf....

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]

I heard that the Polish peeps actually refused a Russian navigator when one was offered...!

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


An altimeter does not measure the height above the ground...! It measures the height above sea level , so you can be flying at 500 feet , and crash into a hill that is 510 feet above sea level....

The pilots should have been well aware of what height the runway was at , and also of the heights of any hills or dips they were going to fly over...

The point is , that if they had stuck to the minimum safe height for these conditions there is no way they could have flown into the ground , but of course at this safe height they had no chance to see the runway and put the aircraft down on it...so they went way below this safe height , and while looking for the runway they took their eyes off the instruments , and managed to drop even lower , below the level of the runway in fact..disaster was unavoidable....

Its exactly this that was the main cause of the crash that killed the top military people in Poland , pilots allowing their aircraft to lose height while looking out of the window , and not at the instruments...

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


Perhaps they are all secretly working for the FSB....???

News / Poland hosts lowest proportion of foreigners in the EU [115]

I would love to know how many Brits came to Poland and tried to make a life here , only to go back home after a few years of struggle....

If you are Polish , its possible to go to the UK with nothing , and come home rich if you try hard enough , but a Brit coming to Poland comes here rich , and leaves with nothing...

I think it will be a long time before Poland sees a large number of Brits coming here...it may be overun by other immigrants from the east though...

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


I really do not understand your obsession that i must be in some way Russian...! I was born in north Yorkshire to English parents , and served in the British military in a role that sure as hell would not be given to anyone connected with the Soviet union as it was at that time...

Do i think that there is a chance that something fishy is going on with this air crash...Yes of course there is a chance something is not as it seems , but i have not seen anything so far that makes me think this....

Historic distrust of the Russians is not evidence , nor is the many postings on various sites by raving lunatics....

If there is something dodgy going on then for sure there will be some evidence of that , but i suspect that the result of the inquirey will be that it was a tragic accident caused by several human errors...

PS... my girlfriend and i are currently struggling with a mass of documents to get permission to marry and live in Russia....something i would not be doing if i am an ex member of the KGB as you seem to suspect....

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]

Lots of interesting theories there...but i have yet to see anything that convinces me that this was anything other than a tragic accident caused by a combination of errors..all of them Polish i am afraid...

Despite the fact i have a Russian girlfriend , i am more than ready to condem the Russians if i believe they they screwed up at Smolensk , or even worse assasinated the people on this aircraft...but i just ain,t seen anything to convince me it was anything other than a Polish screw up...

I had my own ideas about what caused this crash within a few hours of it happening , but i was ready to change my mind if any evidence emerged to point in a different direction , but nothing has changed my mind....yet...!

I am sure that the inquiry will reach the same conclusion , but sadly , the people who hate and distrust the Russians will simply say that they covered it all up very well

Remember , it was the Russians who tried a hostage rescue a few years back , and wound up killing most of the hostages , these are the people who were not able to poke some dissadent in the leg with a poisen umbrella and get away with it..but now we are supposed to believe they can assasinate the president and elite of a Nato country and leave no evidence whatsoever of the crime...nooo sorry i just can,t see it...

Life / How to Politely Refuse a Drink in Poland [72]

Ha...thats sure to have all the old ugly babcias chucking vodka in his pepsi...

News / POLISH TAX INSPECTORS TO BE ARMED...? [11]

Do these tax people wear a uniform of some kind....???

Because if they don,t you would be within your rights to take a shot at somebody who bust down your door and who appeared to be armed...!

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]

I have a feeling the uprated instruments in the Presidents Tu 154 were somewhat superior to what the ATC had available to them...

But as i say..the instruments were not looked at as the crew all stared through the fog trying to spot the runway...

Life / How to Politely Refuse a Drink in Poland [72]


Ha..a fat lot of use that will be....When i first came to Poland i tried the no thanks i am driving , or riding my motorcycle statement...but that just resulted in people saying..so what..?

The fact you are going to be driving is sadly not seen as a good reason not to drink by many people in Poland...

In fact i think some Poles do not see any reason for not drinking...

Just explain you cannot drink much for medical reasons...nobody is gonna hate you for it...

Life / Polish ghost stories [38]

Thread attached on merging:
POLISH GHOST STORIES....do you have any....?

Something Seanus said has prompted me to start this thread...So...does anyone have any Polish ghost stories to tell...?

I have my own ghost story relating to Poland...one i witnessed myself..but i will let others scare you first...

Have you seen a ghost in Poland , or do you know anyone who has..? given Polands violent history there has to be a few restless spirits here...!

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]

I think it was because the crew were looking out of the windows to try and catch sight of the runway...and failed to keep an eye on their instuments..

This was one of the major causes of the Polish miltary aircraft crash near my home that wiped out most of Polands top air force people...

I think its more than possible it has happend a second time...

News / POLISH TAX INSPECTORS TO BE ARMED...? [11]

I think i might avoid having a kebab in Moscow all the same...

Life / INVISIBLE MAN in shops and offices in Poland? [70]


Some people would pay good money for that....!

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


But have we not already established that this poorly equipped old airfield did not have the technical equipment for guiding an aircraft down in bad weather...?

The Russian military aircraft that normally use this base are always diverted to another landing site in bad weather for this very reason....

If there was any doubt in the pilots mind that they could land safely then his duty was to divert to another location , but for reasons we are all aware of the pressure was on to push his luck a little...

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


It would take only seconds for a big aircraft like this to drop below the height where it was in danger , there may not have been time to give a warning to the aircraft...In any case , the crew had to know that there were hills and valleys around the airport covered in trees and that they were flying well below a safe height....

I still believe they flew low on purpose to try and spot the runway..too low...!


If a pilot requests permission to land , he is given it...its normal...ATC can recommend another place to land , advise against it due to weather , but the final decision lies with the pilot only....

ATC do not know what the situation is on the aircraft , what problems they may have , what are the skills of the pilot....The decision about landing is always made by the pilot , and no other person...and being given permission does not mean you have to go ahead and land if you consider it not safe....

You cannot blame the ATC for giving permission if a pilot requests it...

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]


Yep..all the technical equipment in the world cannot show what is going through a pilots mind....why they made a decision that resulted in disaster...

There are only two possible explanations...one is they did not know they were dangerouly low , which i think is unlikely given the warnings from air control and from their own crew member...

The other is that they deliberatly went below a safe height in order to try and catch a glimpse of the runway and land the aircraft...sadly they were below the level of the runway and flew into the ground before they reached it...

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]

Just as a matter of interest...News is just coming in that a Tu 154 heading to Moscow suffered some major system and power failures at 40,000 feet and lost height very rapidly...the Two Russian pilots managed to get the aircraft to an emergency military runway and landed it on a runway that was way too short... The lack of power meant there was no going around for a second attempt , and they put it down first time...

The aircraft ran off the end of the runway , and went a further 200 yards into the forest...despite this , there was minimal damage to the aircraft , and no injuries on board...

dam fine piece of flying..these guys are heroes....!

I think maybe its time this old aircraft went into retirement...

News / POLISH TAX INSPECTORS TO BE ARMED...? [11]


In Moscow they caught some guys selling a dead body to a kebab shop...they didn,t say if they managed to make any kebabs with the guy....yuk...!

News / POLISH TAX INSPECTORS TO BE ARMED...? [11]

Seems that the tax office can cover the cost of this equipment by selling off the organs of anyone they kill with this stuff.....!!

News / POLISH TAX INSPECTORS TO BE ARMED...? [11]

These things can kill people if not used correctly.....are they going to give them Police training on how to use them , or just let em loose with the stuff...

A rubber bullet ( baton round ) will kill you just as well as a normal bullet if fired at the head or torso at close range....its a bit harsh for paying 30 zloty too little on your tax bill...!

Life / INVISIBLE MAN in shops and offices in Poland? [70]

Maybe i am being a bit over sensitive...We Brits are very good at queing , and don,t take kindly to que jumpers , but it seems the Poles are much more tolerent of people leaping in front of them....

I wonder how the Poles who go to work in Germany get on , because the Germans would be even less likely to accept such behavour , and for sure would make a very verbal complaint to any que jumper...We Brits would probably just mumble about it , but not say too much...