International experts handed a report to Polish authorities regarding the crash of President Lech Kaczynski’s Tu-154 aircraft near Smolensk. The document reflects the work of an international investigative team that examined flight records, maintenance logs, and testimonies, with the aim of clarifying the sequence of events that led to the disaster.
Polish Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar stated that the group provided a comprehensive assessment. He noted that the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office has a 700-page report and that translation into Polish is currently in progress.
Earlier, Przemyslaw Nowak, the official representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office, said that the investigations did not confirm any explosion on the Tu-154 during the 2010 crash near Smolensk.
On April 10, 2010, a Tu-154M aircraft from the 36th Special Aviation Regiment of the Polish Air Force departed for Smolensk to participate in mourning events marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn tragedy. In dense fog during the approach, the aircraft clipped a birch tree with its left wing, rotated more than 180 degrees, and crashed about 200 to 300 meters from the runway. Seven crew members and 89 passengers were on board, and all were killed.
Earlier eyewitnesses captured footage of a burning plane near Ivanovo.