Sunday, January 16, 2011

COMMENTARY: Polish Leaders Must Stop Criticizing Plane Crash Reports

On April 10, 2010, a plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people to the site of the Soviet massacre of Polish officers in World War II, crashed in Western Russia due to a thick fog, killing all 96 people on board.

Despite the thick fog -- and warnings from personnel in the controller tower not to land -- the pilot of the plane attempted to land at the airport in Smolensk, Russia, but instead crashed into trees about one-half mile from the airport.

Russia has written several reports on the reasons for the plane crash -- all of which have been criticized by some Polish officials.

In the most recent -- and hopefully final -- Russian report released on January 12, 2011, Lech Kaczynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw, complained that Polish officials failed to investigate the tragedy properly. At least 24 Polish officials took part in the investigation of the plane crash.

Russia's last report blames the tragedy on serious organizational flaws, poor pilot training, and pressure on pilots to land the plane by Lech Kaczynski and other high-ranking state officials on the plane.

Indeed, the January 12 Russian report -- written with the cooperation of 24 Polish counterparts investigating the plane crash -- was objective and transparent.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski and other Polish officials must now end their criticism of this report, and focus their efforts on resolving important issues confronting Poland today.

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