The Smolensk air disaster

Miloslaw 19 | 4,957

11 Apr 2022 #1

Interesting that the anniversary of this event has not been commented about on a Polish forum.

I know that most of you on here are anti PIS,but surely this is worth a post or two.

I have heard both sides of the argument and I am not convinced either way.

My families history with the Russians leads me to believe that Russians always lie.
Katyn is a great example.

The evidence so far presented by Polish sources leads us to believe that it was an accident.

But with hindsight wirh many Russian attrocites, even before the invasion of Ukraine.
It has to be said that this fits in perfectly with the RuSSian MO.

The Russians were obviously capable and willing to commit this crime.

But did they?

I am interested in your opinions.

Novichok 4 | 8,012

11 Apr 2022 #2

But did they?

No, they did not. The fault is 100% on the Polish side. Quoting from Wikipedia:

Both the Russian and Polish official investigations found no technical faults with the aircraft, and concluded that the crew failed to conduct the approach in a safe manner in the given weather conditions.

Earlier, Russia offered a Russian navigator but the Poles refused.

Why not...Poles, of course, always know better. Sounds familiar? Quoting:

Therefore, when "PULL UP" sounds, the crew is supposed to begin an immediate, maximum performance emergency climb (full power and angle of attack to the maximum permissible without stalling) and continue climbing until the warning stops.[23] However, the crew continued the descent

And to prevent "those evil lying Russians" comments:

Russia offered full cooperation to Polish prosecutors during the investigation.

Finally:

The MAK report found the "immediate cause" of the accident was the failure of the crew to make a timely decision to proceed to an alternate airport despite being warned multiple times of the poor weather conditions at Smolensk.

The incompetence was all Polish - including the ultimate act of packing all the big shots into one plane.

OP Miloslaw 19 | 4,957

11 Apr 2022 #3

No, they did not. The fault is 100% on the Polish side

The incompetence was all Polish

That may or may not be true.

But why are you so convinced that you are right?

Novichok 4 | 8,012

11 Apr 2022 #4

Did you notice "quoting"? Do you want me to repeat the bottom-line conclusion reached by those who know?
OK, here it is:

The MAK report found the "immediate cause" of the accident was the failure of the crew to make a timely decision to proceed to an alternate airport despite being warned multiple times of the poor weather conditions at Smolensk.

My "incompetence" is a mild word. Not doing what the tower tells you is beyond incompetence. It's criminal.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk_air_disaster

Tacitus 2 | 1,396

12 Apr 2022 #5

The Russians were obviously capable and willing to commit this crime.

They were certainly capable and would have had no qualms about it. But I don't really see what they got out of it. They had little reason to kill Lech Kaczyński since he was part of the eurosceptical movement that the Kremlin likes to sponsor in order to weaken the EU. I've also read claims that Kaczyński was also quite unpopular shortly before his death and thus likely to loose the next election. So if they wanted to get rid ofd him for some reason, they could have just waited.

Novichok 4 | 8,012

12 Apr 2022 #6

But why are you so convinced that you are right?

Because Wikipedia says that the Russians did everything correctly.
Did you read en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk_air_disaster?