12 factors caused Polish presidential plane crash
The crash of a Polish presidential plane in Western Russia this April was caused by 12 factors, the country`s envoy to the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) said.
In October, Edmund Klich received a technical report from the IAC on the crash near the Russian city of Smolensk, in which then Polish president Lech Kaczynski and other 95 people died. Poland hopes to make the report public in January.
"Not one, but 12 factors led to the plane crash. The number of mistakes and violations during preparations and the flight itself is terrifying," Klich said in an interview with the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.
He said the weather was too bad and the crew had no chance to land safely.
"Even if the plane had touched the runway, it would have crash-landed, though, of course, there would be fewer casualties in this case," he said.
The Polish investigator said a "man in charge of Polish military aviation" attempted to pressurize him into blaming Russia for the crash.
The worn-out Tu-154 with a top-level Polish delegation crashed after hitting trees in thick fog on April 10, killing 88 passengers and eight crew members. The delegation was on its way to a commemoration ceremony of the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which more than 20,000 Poles were executed by Soviet forces.
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