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The airplane carrying the Polish president crashed earlier today in Russia. The plane was about 1.5 km from the runway. There were no survivors.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36352097/ns/world_news-europe/
I'll be keeping tabs on how this develops. It's hard to imagine that this would just happen accidentally to a presidential aircraft. Most such disasters are from faults with the aircraft and that really shouldn't be the case here.
Has this been confirmed yet? As I notice the BBC are still reluctant to actually state they are dead.
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bansama: Has this been confirmed yet? As I notice the BBC are still reluctant to actually state they are dead.

According to Yahoo!, it's quite confirmed (even if not 100%).
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bansama: Has this been confirmed yet? As I notice the BBC are still reluctant to actually state they are dead.

It's official. It's on a million sites, and it's been the running story all day on the Danish TV2 News channel. It's also on CNN. There's been footage of the plane on the ground in a thousand pieces.
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Navagon: I'll be keeping tabs on how this develops. It's hard to imagine that this would just happen accidentally to a presidential aircraft. Most such disasters are from faults with the aircraft and that really shouldn't be the case here.

Apparently it was extremely foggy, so visibility was very low. The theory so far is that the plane clipped a treetop with a wing and went down. It happened during the descent, and the plane was, as mentioned, only 1.5 km from the runway, so it would have been close to ground level.
Post edited April 10, 2010 by Wishbone
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Navagon: I'll be keeping tabs on how this develops. It's hard to imagine that this would just happen accidentally to a presidential aircraft. Most such disasters are from faults with the aircraft and that really shouldn't be the case here.
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Wishbone: Apparently it was extremely foggy, so visibility was very low. The theory so far is that the plane clipped a treetop with a wing and went down. It happened during the descent, and the plane was, as mentioned, only 1.5 km from the runway, so it would have been close to ground level.

And it was a quite old Tu-154.
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Arteveld: And it was a quite old Tu-154.

That reminds me of a plane crash with a group of our soldiers returning trom Iraq a few years ago. They were flying in old Antonov or Tupolev soviet-era airplane.
Well, the BBC have now also confirmed their death.
With all due respect to those in the US, I'll trust what the BBC state far more than what a US news service states. But then, I don't trust the news here that much either (and they are well and truly modeled on US news broadcasting styles.
RIP
Polish president, his wife, military leaders, 15 members of Polish Parlament, former president of Poland, Head of Polish National Bank, total 88 important people
They were going to a commemmoration of thoiusands of members of Polish intelligence killed in Katyń during II World War.
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_(village]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_(village[/url])
Second time we've lost a members of our intelligence in Smolensk. During World War II and now.
GOG should be dressed in dark now...
The first day of commemmoration was in Belarus on Wednesday. Today was supposed to be the second the second, in Smolensk (Russia)
http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=25273#top
Post edited April 10, 2010 by Kola256
As for the people on board:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Polish_Air_Force_Tu-154_crash#Notable_passengers
[i dislike wiki, but i'm not sure if there's a better list right now]
So You may see the severity, or whatever it;s called.
Post edited April 10, 2010 by Arteveld
Yea, I heard it from Armin, he canceled his party in Wroclaw...
Sorry to hear that.
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Wishbone: Apparently it was extremely foggy, so visibility was very low. The theory so far is that the plane clipped a treetop with a wing and went down. It happened during the descent, and the plane was, as mentioned, only 1.5 km from the runway, so it would have been close to ground level.

Well that does make a lot more sense.
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Kola256: They were going to a celebration of thoiusands of members of Polish intelligence killed in Katyń during II World War.

I sure hope they weren't celebrating the mass murders in Katyn during WW2. You probably mean commemmoration.
Why were such a high-profile high-importance group flying on a Tupolev? They're antiquated airplanes.
I don't suspect foul play here ... why would you? Approach is the phase of any flight with the highest risk. Add poor visibility and an old plane, possibly with technical faults and / or without the latest in technological aids for poor visibility conditions, and you have a recipe for disaster.
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Kola256: They were going to a celebration of thoiusands of members of Polish intelligence killed in Katyń during II World War.
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stonebro: I sure hope they weren't celebrating the mass murders in Katyn during WW2. You probably mean commemmoration.

Ya, sorry, changed
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stonebro: I don't suspect foul play here ... why would you? Approach is the phase of any flight with the highest risk. Add poor visibility and an old plane, possibly with technical faults and / or without the latest in technological aids for poor visibility conditions, and you have a recipe for disaster.

The plane was totally modernised about a couple of years ago, so it still was Air Force One for Poland...
Post edited April 10, 2010 by Kola256
Such a great idea to put all most important figures in country into the same plane.
Teraz ktoś może nas z powodzeniem anektować, bo zostaliśmy bez czołowych dowódców wojsk.