In an international tragedy last month, Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 other passengers were killed in a plane crash outside the Russian city of Smolensk. As Poland and the world mourned the loss of the president and many Polish leaders, investigators went to work to find out what caused the flight to go down in a treacherous ravine.
Last week, a preliminary report unveiled that at least two passengers visited the cockpit before it crashed, while several other passengers are said to have been using cell phones while in the air. Cell phone use on airplanes can affect navigation. In this case, proper navigation was crucial as the pilots were navigating through dense fog and challenging terrain. These details were published last week in a report conducted by Russian and Polish authorities. Russia and Poland, who previously have failed to cooperate on local and international matters, are determined to join forces in this case in an effort to heal their rocky relationship.
The investigation thus far has uncovered at least two voices not belonging to crew members on the cockpit flight recorders. What the voices said and who they belonged to has not been revealed yet by officials. The voices were heard a little more than 15 minutes before the plane crashed. One of the voices, however, is believed to be that of Air Force Commander General Andrzej Blasik. News of unknown passengers in the cockpit has furthered speculation by the international press that President Kaczynski or someone in his entourage pressured the crew to land, despite the already-poor visibility having shrunk to about 660 feet.
The airplane that went down on April 10th was filled with political figures en route to a memorial ceremony for Polish officers killed by Soviet secret police in 1940. Russian and Polish investigators also are looking into whether the terrain around the Smolensk military airport distorted instrument readings.
