President Kaczynski's plane crashes on approach to Russia !

[Terminator2]

Breaking News

A plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski from the Polish capital of Warsaw has crashed on approach to Smolensk airport in western Russia. Russian Tass news service reports 87 people are dead.

[Terminator2]

A plane carrying Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski has crashed on approach to a western Russian airport Saturday. There were no survivors on board the Tupolev 154, according to a local official.

The plane crashed as it approached Smolensk at 10.56am Moscow time after taking off from the Polish capital of Warsaw.

The passenger list included Polish Central Bank Governor Slawomir Skrzypek, according to a spokesperson for the Polish Central Bank. Kaczynski’s wife Maria Kaczynski was also on board, along with several senior government officials, according to Russian news services.

Russian news reports there were foggy weather conditions at Smolensk airport Saturday morning.

The plane “clipped the tops of the trees, crashed down and broke into pieces," the governor of the Smolensk region, Sergei Antufiev, told the Russia-24 television news network by telephone. Antufiev added, "There were no survivors."

Kaczynski was due to visit Smolensk to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, when Soviet troops killed thousands of Poles.

[vasilanton]

132 dead.

[grzybek]

* Lech Kaczyński, the President of Poland
* Maria Kaczyńska, the first lady
* Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last President of the Polish government-in-exile
* Jerzy Szmajdziński, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm
* Władysław Stasiak, Chief of the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland
* Aleksander Szczygło, head of the National Security Bureau
* Paweł Wypych, Secretary of State in the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland
* Mariusz Handzlik, Undersecretary of State in the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland
* Andrzej Kremer, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
* General Franciszek Gągor, Chief of the Polish Army General Staff
* Andrzej Przewoźnik, Secretary-General of Rada Ochrony Pamięci Walk i Męczeństwa
* Grzegorz Dolniak, member of the Sejm
* Przemysław Gosiewski, member of the Sejm
* Zbigniew Wassermann, member of the Sejm
* Janusz Kochanowski, Polish Ombudsman
* Sławomir Skrzypek, President of the National Bank of Poland
* Janusz Kurtyka, Historian and president of the Institute of National Remembrance
* Tadeusz Płoski, Bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the Polish Army
* Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, member of the Sejm
* Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz, member of the Sejm
* Aleksandra Natalli-Świat, member of the Sejm
* Piotr Nurowski, President of the Polish Olympic Committee

Also:
commander of airforce
commander of special forces
commander of navy
commander of the capitol city
commander of land forces

[michal]

I am in state of shock ...
Look like pilot error (maybe due to time pressure) more than likely. Crashed during 4th approach, earlier ATC sugested diversion to Minsk or Moscow, but final decision was in pilot hands.

[grzybek]

Presidential and governmental figures

1. Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland
2. Maria Kaczyńska, First Lady of Poland
3. Mariusz Handzlik, Undersecretary of State in the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland
4. Ryszard Kaczorowski, the former President of the Polish government-in-exile
5. Andrzej Kremer, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
6. Tomasz Merta, Deputy Minister of Culture
7. Sławomir Skrzypek, President of the National Bank of Poland
8. Władysław Stasiak, Chief of the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland
9. Aleksander Szczygło, Head of the National Security Bureau
10. Paweł Wypych, Secretary of State in the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland

[edit] Military figures

1. Lieutenant General Andrzej Błasik, Commander of the Polish Air Force
2. Major General Tadeusz Buk, Commander of the Polish Land Forces
3. General Franciszek Gągor, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces
4. Brigadier General Kazimierz Gilarski, Commander of the Warsaw Garrison
5. Vice Admiral Andrzej Karweta, Commander of the Polish Navy
6. Stanisław Komorowski, Deputy Minister of National Defence
7. Lieutenant General Bronisław Kwiatkowski, Commander of the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command
8. Major General Włodzimierz Potasiński, Commander of the Polish Special Forces

Six of the seven highest military commanders (the Commander-in-Chief, i.e. President, the Chief of the General Staff and all four Branch Commanders) of the Polish Armed Forces were killed. The Minister of Defence, Bogdan Klich, was not on the plane.
[edit] Senate members

1. Krystyna Bochenek, Deputy Speaker of the Senate
2. Janina Fetlińska
3. Stanisław Zając

[edit] Sejm members

1. Leszek Deptuła
2. Grzegorz Dolniak
3. Grażyna Gęsicka
4. Przemysław Gosiewski
5. Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka
6. Sebastian Karpiniuk
7. Aleksandra Natalli-Świat
8. Krzysztof Putra, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm
9. Arkadiusz Rybicki
10. Jerzy Szmajdziński, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm
11. Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz
12. Zbigniew Wassermann
13. Wiesław Woda
14. Edward Wojtas

[edit] Religious figures

1. Archbishop Miron Chodakowski, Orthodox Ordinary of the Polish Army
2. Tadeusz Płoski, bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the Polish Army
3. Ryszard Rumianek, Rector of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University

[edit] Others

1. Joanna Agacka-Indecka, President of the Polish Bar Council
2. Janusz Kochanowski, Polish Ombudsman for Citizen Rights
3. Janusz Kurtyka, historian and President of the Institute of National Remembrance
4. Piotr Nurowski, President of the Polish Olympic Committee
5. Maciej Płażyński, President of the Polish Community Association, former Speaker of the Sejm, actual sejm member
6. Andrzej Przewoźnik, Secretary-General of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites
7. Wojciech Seweryn, Polish-American artist [4]
8. Anna Walentynowicz, one of the major activists of the free trade union Solidarity in the late 1970s and early 1980s
9. Janusz Zakrzeński, actor

[RebelzGang]

whoah, pretty much the entire govt is dead.
but whats even stupid is why they were all in the same plane?!? guys from so many fields, they shudnt even be on the same plane at the same time!!
ofcourse, if an assassin or criminal wanted to kill any single one of them or wanted to topple the polish govt that wud be the jackpot, one single stupid plane!!
these guys are morons. maybe the planes limit was 100 or so ppl, but they tried to fit their damn whole state in it and thats why it crashed.

[michal]

whoah, pretty much the entire govt is dead.

You are wrong - Polish government (with Prime Minister and Ministers is almost intact. "Only" Presidential Chancellery suffered terrible losses.

[Terminator2]

Some pics of the crash

The passenger list of the Polish government Tupolev Tu-154 that crashed in Smolensk, April 10, 2010. Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed when a plane carrying 132 people crashed in thick fog on its approach to a Russian airport on Saturday, killing everyone on board.

[michal]

96 people were on board, not 132

[RebelzGang]

whoah, pretty much the entire govt is dead.

You are wrong - Polish government (with Prime Minister and Ministers is almost intact. "Only" Presidential Chancellery suffered terrible losses.

just an expression. not to be taken too literally, ofcourse a govt consists of thousands of ppl not just a plane load of em.

[michal]

just an expression. not to be taken too literally, ofcourse a govt consists of thousands of ppl not just a plane load of em.

In Poland government consists of Prime Minister and Ministers and neither Prime Minister nor any Minister was on board (just 3 deputy ministers)

[RebelzGang]

just an expression. not to be taken too literally, ofcourse a govt consists of thousands of ppl not just a plane load of em.

In Poland government consists of Prime Minister and Ministers and neither Prime Minister nor any Minister was on board (just 3 deputy ministers)

okay, okay, i rephrase my statement just ppl who WORKED for govt died. oooh..

hmm, i dont know if he's elected or not, i think not (since theres a PM). but i know for fact that both the President and First Lady have INDEED died in this plane crash. and im pretty sure Head of State, ceremonial or otherwise, is worth some shit as part of govt.

edit: reading back on bit of the list, everyone who died were indeed part of the govt (civil service or military). and maybe what ur thinking by "govt" is the ruling party or leaders (PM & MPs), but that was not what i was talking about or cud even care.

[ogutt]

terrible