Shocking Facts of Poland's Kaczynski Plane Crash Revealed

Polish experts have deciphered new fragments of Tu-154 black box recordings which have shed light on an April 10, 2010 plane crash that took the lives of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Smolensk; dozens of top Polish officials had intended to fly to Russia for what had been slated to be a reconciliatory meeting between the governments of the countries to recognize the victims of the WWII-era Katyn massacre.

The transcript of the newly-decrypted fragments, which were publicized by Polish RMF FM radio on its website, have revealed important facts and details about the Smolensk tragedy that claimed the lives of 96 people, including the country’s President, his family, and other top Polish officials.

Polish experts have scrupulously reconstructed what happened during the last moments in the cockpit of the presidential Tu-154 airplane before the catastrophe. The decrypted recording has proven that a "third party" had been constantly interfering with the crew, entering the cockpit despite the protests of the pilots. In the last 20 minutes before the crash, the crew made seven desperate attempts to silence unidentified individuals in the cockpit. Half an hour before the crash, the plane's microphones had caught a conversation between crew members and some unidentified persons about alcohol. The stewardess asked someone if he wanted to drink some beer and a person answered positively.

Although the pilots were informed of bad weather conditions at Smolensk military airfield and asked by an air traffic controller to divert the plane to another airport, the crew apparently decided to risk landing.

Furthermore, the new data indicates that the Commander of the Polish Air Force, Gen. Andrzej Eugeniusz Blasik, was present in the cockpit until the last minute of the crash, and apparently pressured the pilots to land. According to the Polish experts, General Blasik told the crew: "It is the fact that we must do it to the end." Later, when the cockpit resounded with the alarming signal "Terrain Ahead" and the plane descended to an altitude of 300 meters, the General encouraged the crew, saying: "You'll fit in, be bold," then adding "230." However, within the next two minutes, the presidential plane crashed into the ground.

The catastrophe resulted in the deaths of the country's top political, military, financial and religious leaders, including the head of the state, Polish President Lech Kaczynski. An international investigation of the tragedy was launched by the Interstate Aviation Committee, which included Polish, Russian and American experts. According to the preliminary findings, the catastrophe had been caused by human error and severe weather conditions. The pilots were warned of the heavy fog at Smolensk airfield and were asked to divert the presidential plane to another airport. The Interstate Aviation Committee also disclosed that the pilots could have been subjected to pressure from high-ranking officials. The detailed transcript of the plane's black box recordings, presented recently by the Polish experts, has confirmed this suggestion and revealed important new facts about the tragedy.