Researchers accuse Russia of manipulating data of Smolensk plane crash
The commission investigating the plane crash near Smolensk has evidence of Russia’s tampering with some data relating to the tragedy, according to the commission’s chairperson, Wacław Berczyński. Ukrinform reported the chairperson’s comments during a press-conference in Warsaw.
"Collecting the data, we are also trying to determine its credibility because we received a lot of data, for example, from Russian, i.e. foreign sources. We have already found evidence that some data was manipulated,” Berczyński stated.
He explained that the Commission is preparing to conduct research in an aerodynamic tunnel to reconstruct a picture of the last seconds of the flight of Lech Kaczynski’s plane. According to him, the commission has already carried out a voice analysis of the conversation in the cockpit of the Tu-154М and is currently awaiting medical data. Berczyński noted that the commission has already heard witnesses and is planning to continue its work.
The chairperson asserted that the commission does not put together any hypotheses regarding the reason for the crash, but has tried from the beginning to analyze all available materials to reveal the truth.
The Minister of National Defense for Poland, Antoni Macierewicz, noted during the press-conference that the investigations were resumed because the work of previous Russian and Polish commissions was not convincing and there is evidence that they "tampered, manipulated and above all, did not take into account and concealed the truth regarding actual events,” as confirmed by Polish and foreign experts. At the same time he noted that the commission will not name those guilty of the crash because that is not its task.
British air crash expert Frank Taylor who is involved in commission activities noted that the previous Polish report describing the crash is "inappropriate.” In particular, he noted that according to satellite images of the site of the crash, the elements of the crashed plane were moved.
The Governmental Commission which operates adjacently to the Ministry of National defense of Poland began its work in March this year. It was established because Minister Macierewicz acknowledged new facts that require resuming the investigations of the crash near Smolensk.
The infamous crash of the Tu-154 plane occurred at dawn on the 10th of April 2010 in Smolensk near Severny Aerodrome. The Polish delegation was arriving from Poland to attend an event marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre, which took place not far from Smolensk.
As result of the crash, 96 people were killed, among them Polish President Lech Kaczyński and his wife, the leaders of all the armed forces, the Chief of General Staff and public activists.
The International Aviation Committee in Moscow and the Polish Governmental Commission of then Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller, despite some difference in party’s responsibilities, officially announced in 2011 that pilot error was the main cause of the crash of the presidential plane.
The ruling coalition of the party "Law and Justice,” which considers the findings of both commissions erroneous, does not exclude the possibility that the crash could have been caused by explosives on board. Poland is implying that Russia could be involved in the crash.