The history of bad blood between Poland and Russia can’t help but influence the different comments both nations are making about the tragic plane crash that killed Poland’s president and 95 other people.
Last week Russian officials were quick to blame the April 10 crash of the president’s Tupolev-145 jet in western Russia on pilot error. But at a press conference Tuesday, Polish officials essentially said there shouldn’t be a rush to judgment, that it would take weeks or months before the cause of the accident can be determined, according to The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703763904575196100835030916.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews
President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and dozen of Polish dignitaries were killed as they traveled to Russia to attend a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn slaughter of 20,000 Polish officers by the Russians. The jet crashed as it attempted to land, against the orders of the air controller, at a foggy airport near Smolensk.
Polish investigators have to wait until Russian authorities process evidence from the crash before they get it. But the Polish media has accused the Russians of purposely holding back the evidence to delay the crash probe.
Although the Russians were quick to point a finger at the pilot of the plane, Capt. Arkadiusz Protasluk, for the fatal crash, Polish authorities take quite a different view Tuesday.
“At this stage all versions of the causes of the catastrophe are being taken under consideration,” The Journal quoted Polish Col. Zbigniew Drozdowski as saying at Tuesday’s press conference. “None of them is the dominant version, none of them is being rejected.”
There’s been some speculation that President Kaczynski may have pressured the pilot to land so that the Polish dignatories wouldn’t be late for the Katyn ceremony. But Polish officials swatted down that theory, saying that the pilot was a well-respected, well-trained, cool-headed aviator.