Polish President Dies in Plane Crash

[lollipopgirl]

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria were killed Friday when their jetliner crashed on approach to Smolensk airport in western Russia. At least 88 people were confirmed dead in the plane crash, although an exact figure is yet to be determined and there are conflicting reports as to how many people were on board. It is feared that as many as 132 people were on board the doomed plane.

The governor of the Russian region where the crash occurred said that nobody survived. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will head a commission to investigate the crash according to the Kremlin. For the immediate, pilot error has been blamed for the cause of the disaster. The pilot turned down the opportunity to land at an alternative runway due to heavy fog. The pilot made 4 attempts to land the plane before it crashed in woodland near the airport.

Right before impact the pilot accelerated the plane as he came into land and lost contact with air traffic control. The plane broke into pieces once it made contact with the trees. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called a meeting of his Cabinet and the national flag has been lowered to half-staff at the Presidential Palace, where Polish citizens were gathered to lay flowers and light candles. There were black ribbons posted along some of the windows in the Polish capital.

The Polish President and his wife were en route to attend a World War II memorial service. Also on board the plane were the head of the Polish army and the head of the Presidential Administration. The Polish Army Chief of Staff, National Bank President and Deputy Foreign Minister along with the families of high ranking officials were also on the passenger list.

http://viscosimedia.com/20100410179/news/world/polish-president-dies-in-plane-crash

This is so sad Its sad enough being the President AND his wife, but then add in all the other important people of Poland (in the last paragraph) who were in the crash, as well as the families and staff, there is so many people! Its shocking and devastating for Poland, my heart goes out to them

[Stryfe]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Wikipedia has a comprehensive list of notable passengers that all died in the crash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Polish_Air_Force_Tu-154_crash#Notable_passengers

Presidential and governmental figures
Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland
Maria Kaczyńska, First Lady of Poland
Mariusz Handzlik, Undersecretary of State in the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland
Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last President of the Polish government-in-exile
Andrzej Kremer, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sławomir Skrzypek, President of the National Bank of Poland
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

Military figures
Lieutenant General Andrzej Błasik, Chief of the Polish Air Force
Major General Tadeusz Buk, Commander of the Polish Land Forces
General Franciszek Gągor, Chief of the Polish Army General Staff
Vice Admiral Andrzej Karweta, Commander-in-chief of the Polish Navy

Senat members
Krystyna Bochenek, Deputy Speaker of the Senat
Janina Fetlińska, member of the Senat
Stanisław Zając, member of the Senat

Sejm members
Leszek Deptuła, member of the Sejm
Grzegorz Dolniak, member of the Sejm
Grażyna Gęsicka, member of the Sejm
Przemysław Gosiewski, member of the Sejm
Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, member of the Sejm
Sebastian Karpiniuk, member of the Sejm
Aleksandra Natalli-Świat, member of the Sejm
Krzysztof Putra, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm
Arkadiusz Rybicki, member of the Sejm
Jerzy Szmajdziński, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm
Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz, member of the Sejm
Zbigniew Wassermann, member of the Sejm
Wiesław Woda, member of the Sejm
Edward Wojtas, member of the Sejm

Religious figures
Archbishop Miron Chodakowski, Orthodox Ordinary of the Polish Army
Tadeusz Płoski, bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the Polish Army
Ryszard Rumianek, Rector of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University

Others
Janusz Kochanowski, Polish Ombudsman for Citizen Rights
Janusz Kurtyka, Historian and president of the Institute of National Remembrance
Piotr Nurowski, President of the Polish Olympic Committee
Maciej Płażyński, President of the Polish Community Association
Andrzej Przewoźnik, Secretary-General of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites
Anna Walentynowicz, free trade union activist, member of Solidarity movement

[Tuffty]

I have someone on Facebook who's convinced that the crash was a cover up to prevent an international incident, and that it never 'clipped trees' but Putin had ordered the sabotage of the plane due to the missile defence issue.

Anyway, this was actually quite shocking. R.I.P. to all involved.

[SomethingWild]

^I immediately thought of some sort of conspiracy too 

Whatever, very sad for everyone involved. Tragic event.

[reina's eyes]

Indications are the right wing president would have been ousted in elections later this year.

It's a bit reminiscent of the 1996 bad weather crash in croatia in which ron brown and other members of the us elite were killed in the culmination of a chain of incompetence and poor judgment. Anyone who travels much is particularly subject to such things, especially when there's pressure to meet a diplomatic schedule.

[daigong]

Whoa. That is pretty ridiculous, SO MANY gov't officials in one blow. My condolences to the Polish nation and community.

Hits pretty close to home, cuz I know a lot of Polish peeps. Fuck :/