Polish president dies in Russian plane crash

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

MOSCOW (AP): Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife died Saturday along with 130 others when their plane crashed while coming in for a landing in western Russia, officials said.

 

The governor of the Smolensk region, where the crash took place about 11 a.m. (0700 GMT), said no one survived.

 

"The Polish presidential plane did not make it to the runway while landing. Tentative findings indicate that it hit the treetops and fell apart," Sergei Anufriev said on state news channel Rossiya-24. "Nobody has survived the disaster."

 

The Polish foreign ministry confirmed that Kaczynski and his wife were aboard the plane.

 

The head of Russia's top investigative body, Sergei Markin, said there were a total of 132 people on the plane, a Tu-154.

 

Kaczynski was flying to Russia for events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police in Katyn and elsewhere during World War II.

 

The presidential plane was a Soviet-built Tupolev TU154M, at least 20 years old. The Army chief of staff, Gen. Franciszek Gagor, National Bank President Slawomir Skrzypek and Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremoer were on the passenger list.

 

In Warsaw, Prime Minister Donald Tusk called an extraordinary meeting of his Cabinet.

 

Kaczynski, 60, became president in December 2005 after defeating Tusk in that year's presidential vote.

 

The nationalist conservative was the twin brother of Poland's opposition leader, former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

 

Kaczynski had said he would seek a second term in presidential elections this fall.

 

He was expected to face an uphill struggle against Parliament speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, the candidate of Tusk's governing Civic Platform party.

 

According to the constitution, Komorowski would take over presidential duties. Kaczynski's wife, Maria, was an economist.

 

They had a daughter, Marta, and two granddaughters.

 

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/10/nation/20100410161250&sec=nation

[Tamizi Hj Tamby 1]

My goodness Condolences to the Polish people on the demise of their President and the First Lady in the tragic air crash.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Tamizi Hj Tamby

[kianhong 0]

The same type came to KUL in 30 March 2007.

 

[iwan 3]

if im not mistaken, the chief of army,airforce and some head of banking was on the same flight..weird really..

[Radzi 2]

The same type came to KUL in 30 March 2007.

 

Not just the same type. The very same aircraft. 101.

[indolentkid 0]

Not just the same type. The very same aircraft. 101.

 

 

The same aircraft?! Are you suure?

[Tamizi Hj Tamby 1]

Yes,it's the same aircraft.

[Guest Levent]

As expected, the intial news reporting was focusing on the aircraft. "Ooh, a Tupolev... it must have been a problem with the plane!"

An article on the BBC News website mentioned that the Tu-154 is a design from the 1960s... So what? I wrote them a message saying that the 737 is also a design from the 1960s, yet when one crashes I don't see them writing the same comment. I hate the way so-called journalists are so eager to reach conclusions about aviation-related issues while they clearly don't know what they are talking about.

 

In another article, it mentioned some technical problems the Polish presidential plane had had on previous trips. Nothing out of the ordinary, could have happened with any aircraft. But get this: it went on by saying that "the aircraft was caught in severe turbulence during a flight to Seoul." What the hell? Maybe now we should blame planes for getting caught in turbulence as well... oh no, wait, only if it's a Tupolev!!!

[Pieter C. 5]

Crashed Tu-154 crew offered three alternate airports

By David Kaminski-Morrow

 

Crew members of the Polish state Tupolev Tu-154 which crashed at Smolensk yesterday were offered three alternate airports, as a result of dense fog, but opted to continue the flight in order to assess the weather situation.

 

Two Belarussian airports - Minsk and Vitebsk - as well as Moscow Vnukovo were suggested to the pilots, said Russia's presidential plenipotentiary representative Georgy Poltavchenko during a preliminary technical briefing with prime minister Vladimir Putin.

 

Poltavchenko, who was among the delegates waiting to receive the aircraft, states that he was informed that the weather conditions were "difficult", with visibility below 400m - and possibly as low as 100-150m.

 

But he says the flight crew considered they had sufficient fuel to continue flying to the Smolensk terminal area, to "look around, and then decide".

 

"Then we were told that they were going to land," he says, adding that the Tu-154 was not heard approaching before there was the noise of an impact. He says the sounds were "strange" and "not typical" of a crash.

 

Air transport regulator Rosaviatsia's chief, Alexander Neradko, told Putin during the briefing that visibility was below the minimum of 1,000m.

 

Neradko says the Tu-154 struck an 8m-tall tree at a distance of 1,200m from the runway. At this distance the tri-jet should have been at a height of 60m, he says, the standard for a 3° glideslope.

 

"The aircraft proceeded to strike more trees, broke up in mid-air, hit the ground and exploded," he adds.

 

No indication has been given, during the briefing, on whether the crew attempted to abort the landing. Earlier information had suggested that the Tu-154 had been executing a go-around.

 

Emergency situations minister Sergei Shoigu says that firefighting personnel were dispatched to the scene at 10:51 and that fires were extinguished 10min later. The aircraft came down about 300m from the runway, he says, with no survivors among the 96 occupants.

 

Transport minister Igor Levitin confirmed to Putin that the pilot "made the decision to proceed independently", despite the warning from air traffic control over the foggy conditions.

 

Polish president Lech Kaczynski and dozens of high-ranking Polish political and military figures were killed in the accident.

[BC Tam 2]

..... said Russia's presidential plenipotentiary representative Georgy Poltavchenko .....

 

"Then we were told that they were going to land," he says, adding that the Tu-154 was not heard approaching before there was the noise of an impact. He says the sounds were "strange" and "not typical" of a crash.

1) What on earth is a "plenipotentiary representative" ?!

2) Going by his comments, likely some sort of very experienced air crash investigator - to be able to distinguish 'not typical' from 'typical' sounds of a plane crash

[Azrin A 2]

1) What on earth is a "plenipotentiary representative" ?!

2) Going by his comments, likely some sort of very experienced air crash investigator - to be able to distinguish 'not typical' from 'typical' sounds of a plane crash

 

I want to guess...going by the bold letter, it is PR but the Poland way

My hapless guess though hehe

[Naim 6]

1) What on earth is a "plenipotentiary representative" ?!

 

Authorised rep of a govt, like an ambassador.

[BC Tam 2]

Thanks doc !

Should have looked up the word in trusty uncle dic earlier - it's actually listed there; defined as "(envoy) with full powers to take action"

Hence, the "Russia's presidential plenipotentiary representative" would seem a very very, well, powerful person. Still doesn't quite explain how he could tell different air crashes apart from sound alone though

[Pieter C. 5]

Belarus Leader Blames Kaczynski For Air Crash

 

April 15, 2010

 

Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko has said he believes Polish President Lech Kaczynski gave the final order to land his plane which crashed on Saturday in Russia, killing all on board, Interfax news agency reported.

 

Kaczynski, a combative nationalist known for his distrust of both the European Union and Russia, had been travelling to mark the 70th anniversary of the massacre of more than 20,000 Polish officers by Soviet secret police in the Katyn forest in western Russia when his plane went down on Saturday in thick fog.

 

Russian air traffic controllers in Smolensk urged the pilot to divert to another airport because of poor visibility, but say he ignored the advice and made four attempts to land before hitting tree-tops and crashing.

 

"It is clear who's responsible for this. Guilty or not guilty, you are the number one person and you are responsible for it," Lukashenko was quoted as saying on Wednesday by Interfax.

 

"If the number one aircraft with the president on board is in flight and there is some kind of irregularity, the captain reports the situation directly to the president," said Lukashenko, who has stormy relations with Warsaw after a crackdown on ethnic Poles in Belarus.

 

"The president asks whether the plane can be landed in this situation. But it's nevertheless the president who has the final say, it's he who decides whether the plane is to land or not, but the pilots don't have to obey."

 

Russian officials are decoding the two cockpit voice recorders recovered from the flight and expect to complete a preliminary review of the data by the end of the week.

 

Some Polish media have speculated that Kaczynski, in his determination not to miss the Katyn anniversary event, may have ordered the pilot to land but prosecutors looking into the crash have said there is no evidence so far to support that view.

 

The speculation is based in large part on an incident in 2008, when Kaczynski flew to Georgia to show his solidarity with the country during its brief war with Russia.

 

He grew irate when his pilot refused to land in the capital Tbilisi because of safety concerns, later accusing him of cowardice for diverting to Azerbaijan and pushing for him to be fired.

 

(Reuters)

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Poland To Reveal Black Box Details From Crash

 

April 15, 2010

 

Poland's chief prosecutor promised on Thursday to release details of the cockpit voice recorders from the plane that crashed in western Russia on Saturday killing the president and dozens of senior officials.

 

President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, Polish military leaders and senior opposition figures were travelling to mark the 70th anniversary of the massacre of over 20,000 Polish officers by Soviet secret police in Katyn forest when the plane went down.

 

Russian air traffic controllers in Smolensk say they urged the pilot to divert to another airport because of thick fog, but say he ignored the advice and made four attempts to land before hitting tree-tops and crashing.

 

Some Polish media have speculated that Kaczynski, in his determination not to miss the Katyn event, may have ordered the pilot to try to land the plane.

 

"No matter what the black boxes hold, it will be revealed to the public," Andrzej Seremet, Poland's chief prosecutor, told Tok FM radio on Thursday.

 

"The conversations, their content, will be vital in terms of proving or disproving the various hypotheses. I will not oppose revealing the contents unless they are of an intimate nature," Seremet added.

 

"The worst thing for the prosecutors to do would be to try to selectively release the information, as that could expose us to accusations of manipulating the investigation."

 

GEORGIA INCIDENT

 

Russian investigators are decoding the two cockpit voice recorders recovered from the plane and have said a preliminary review could be completed by the end of this week.

 

The speculation that Kaczynski may have ordered the pilot to land in Smolensk is based in large part on an incident in 2008, when the president flew to Georgia to show his solidarity with that country during its brief war with Russia.

 

Kaczynski grew irate when his pilot refused to land in the capital Tbilisi because of safety concerns, later accusing him publicly of cowardice for diverting to Azerbaijan and even pushing for him to be fired.

 

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has stormy relations with Warsaw after a crackdown on ethnic Poles, said on Wednesday that he believed Kaczynski was responsible for the crash, according to the Interfax news agency.

 

"The president asks whether the plane can be landed in this situation," he was quoted as saying. "But it's nevertheless the president who has the final say, it's he who decides whether the plane is to land or not, but the pilots don't have to obey."

 

The crash has plunged Poland into mourning and brought forward a presidential election, originally planned for October, to June.

 

Two days after the coffins of the first couple were brought to the presidential palace in central Warsaw for public viewing, thousands of people were still queuing for up to 9 hours to pay their respects.

 

(Reuters)

[BC Tam 2]

Polish pilots on Kaczynski jet 'saw crash coming'

 

A black box voice recording from the Polish jet which crashed in Russia shows the pilots knew they were about to crash, Polish officials say.

 

Polish chief prosecutor Andrzej Seremet said it was clear the crew knew disaster was "inevitable" after the plane hit tree-tops.

 

A Russian source said there was no evidence the pilots were pushed by their VIP passengers into taking risks.

 

Poland's president and numerous other top figures died in Saturday's crash.

 

The bodies of Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria were the first to be repatriated from Russia.

 

Poland, which is in national mourning all of this week, received the remains of 35 other victims on Thursday, including those of Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last leader of Poland's government-in-exile during the period of communist rule.

 

In all, 67 of the 96 victims have been brought back from Russia. Most of the remains, believed to be badly disfigured and burnt, were taken to Moscow for identification shortly after the crash in the western region of Smolensk.

 

Mr Kaczynski and his wife are to be given a state funeral in the city of Krakow on Sunday, with world leaders including US President Barack Obama set to attend.

 

However, Poles are divided over whether the late leader, whose popularity ratings had fallen sharply, should be interred in Krakow's Wawel Cathedral, a site traditionally reserved for Poland's kings and heroes.

 

'Dramatic' seconds

 

Russian investigators, who have been working in conjunction with their Polish counterparts, said soon after the crash that the jet's pilots had disregarded repeated warnings from Russian air traffic controllers to land at an alternative airport because of heavy fog at Smolensk.

 

Some have suggested the crew were under pressure to land regardless because they were carrying their passengers to a memorial at nearby Katyn, where Stalin's secret police massacred Polish military officers during World War II.

 

A senior Russian aviation official, Tatyana Anodina, said on Thursday that the plane only tried to land once - not up to four times as previously reported.

 

An unnamed source close to the investigation in Moscow also told Russia's Interfax news agency that no evidence had been found in the flight recorders that "any of the high-ranking passengers forced the pilots to land near Smolensk".

 

"The panel's analysis, namely data from the black boxes, shows that it was the pilot's mistake that caused the crash," the source added.

 

Poland's chief military prosecutor, Krzysztof Parulski, rejected the Russian report as "speculation" and warned that it was too early to draw any conclusions since the investigation was still ongoing.

 

Mr Seremet, for his part, told Polish radio: "The crew was aware of the inevitability of the coming catastrophe, if only due to the plane shaking after the wings hit the trees - which we are certain happened."

 

Col Zbigniew Rzepa, a Polish military prosecutor, said the pilots had been aware of the imminent crash as the last seconds of the voice recordings "were dramatic". He did not elaborate.

 

One of the three black boxes on the Soviet-built Tu-154 Polish government jet has been returned to Poland while the other two are being examined in Moscow, Polish prosecutors' spokesman Jerzy Artymiak said.

 

Mr Artymiak said investigators had hoped to disclose the contents of the black boxes officially on Thursday but would wait until after the weekend's funerals.

 

A state funeral for those killed along with the presidential couple is due to be held on Saturday.

 

from the BBC

 

You can feel the politics seeping in, unfortunately

[Pieter C. 5]

Crashed Polish Tu-154 fitted with terrain warning system

 

Russian investigators have confirmed that the Polish state Tupolev Tu-154M which crashed on approach to Smolensk had been equipped with a ground collision-warning system.

 

Based on information derived from the aircraft's flight recorders, the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) states that the aircraft was also fitted with US-built satellite navigation equipment.

 

MAK has yet to clarify whether the terrain awareness and warning system was active.

 

The aircraft, transporting a presidential delegation from Warsaw, crashed after striking trees while attempting to land in fog on 10 April.

 

MAK states that it is studying documentation detailing modification to the Tu-154 undertaken at the Samara-based Aviakor plant towards the end of last year.

 

Investigators are still working to identify voices of the flight crew and are performing a forensic examination to establish the precise locations of crew members at the time of the accident.

 

MAK has also been synchronising the information received from the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders and cross-checking it with transcripts from air traffic control communications.

[Pieter C. 5]

Tu-154 crash inquiry questions Polish state Yak-40 crew

 

By David Kaminski-Morrow

 

Investigators attempting to explain the crash of the Polish presidential Tupolev Tu-154 at Smolensk are interviewing the crew of a Yakovlev Yak-40 from the same presidential squadron which successfully landed ahead of the ill-fated jet.

 

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee adds that a working group is still filtering the Tu-154's cockpit-voice recorder to eliminate extraneous noise and identify parts of the conversation record.

 

The Polish prosecutor general's office states that the Yak-40 crew transmitted a warning by radio to the Tu-154 pilots regarding the worsening weather conditions at Smolensk.

 

Another aircraft, an Ilyushin Il-76, had also conducted test approaches at Smolensk "a few tens of minutes" beforehand, the office adds, before departing.

 

While the precise time difference has yet to be determined, the office says it was long enough to "exclude the hypothesis" that the Tu-154 was affected by wake turbulence.

 

The prosecutor's office says the inquiry is studying personal data devices - such as mobile phones, cameras and laptop computers - retrieved from the wreckage to see whether they contain valuable information pertaining to the 10 April accident, and to check whether there was any risk of electronic interference with the Tu-154's systems.

 

Although the aircraft was delayed in its departure from Warsaw, evidence indicates the Tu-154 was prepared properly and was in "good working order", and that the aircraft's fuel was in line with standards. The prosecutor's office also says there is "no reason to question" the modification work performed by the Samara-based Aviakor plant before the aircraft was returned to Poland last December.

 

Both pilots knew the Russian language "sufficiently", it says, adding that the crew had undergone strict training. But the office says that it would be "premature", based on evidence so far received, to reject - or accept - the conclusion that the crew's actions contributed directly to the accident.

[Pieter C. 5]

Russia Says Passengers Were In Crash Plane Cockpit

 

May 20, 2010

 

Russian aviation officials said on Wednesday that at least two non-crew members were in the cockpit of a Polish plane before the crash that killed all 96 on board, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife.

 

Tatiana Anodina, head of Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), said the voice of one of the passengers had been identified, while the other, or potentially others, were still being analysed.

 

"This is important for the investigation," Anodina told journalists at a briefing.

 

She declined to identify the voice, citing moral reservations and international rules.

 

Edmund Klich, head of a Polish committee that analyses plane crashes, who has also been participating in the IAC examination, said recordings showed the voices of non-crew members were heard in the background 16-20 minutes before the crash.

 

"I do not believe that this will have a decisive influence on the cause of the catastrophe," Klich said. "But this is my personal opinion."

 

The IAC added that its analysis had ruled out an attack, an on-board fire or mechanical failure as reasons for the Polish Tu-154 plane to crash, leaving the potential reasons of bad weather and human error still open.

 

"The engines worked up to the moment of hitting the ground," IAC's Anodina said.

 

The IAC's preliminary report did not provide its conclusion on the cause of the plane's crash, which took place in thick fog near Russia's Smolensk airport on April 10.

 

(Reuters)

[Denny Yen 0]

[BC Tam 2]

Refer pane no.13

"30 to 40cm birch tree"

At that size, it's more of an aspiring sapling than a tree for sure

Heck, lalang in my garden is taller than that !

(yes, obviously a typo there)

[Denny Yen 0]

The 30-40cm probably refers to tree diameter...crash site's surrounding trees as per photo look about that kind of diameter.

[BC Tam 2]

True, possible

Therefore I retract my statement of the obvious

[Pieter C. 5]

Crashed Polish Tu-154 struck trees below runway elevation

 

Preliminary findings from the investigation into the Polish presidential Tupolev Tu-154M crash at Smolensk detail for the first time the accident sequence, and underscore the repeated warnings to the crew about the poor weather conditions.

 

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) has been emphasising the co-operation between Russian and Polish investigators during the high-profile inquiry into the 10 April accident, which killed Polish president Lech Kaczynski, and has been issuing frequent updates in a bid to stifle any doubts over the openness of the process.

 

The flight from Warsaw, originally scheduled for 06:30, had its departure time revised to 07:00 and subsequently took off late at 07:27. Four crew members - a pilot, co-pilot, navigator and flight engineer - were on board, although MAK points out that the aircraft's manuals were designed to support a three-person crew, without a navigator.

 

While the crew had weather information for the departure and diversion airports, as well as the flight route, they had no forecast - or other aeronautical data, including NOTAMs - for Smolensk North Airport.

 

The aircraft was technically sound and it had 19t of fuel, enough to operate the service given the alternate airports selected. Analysis of the fuel shows that it met quality standards and the aircraft's take-off weight and balance were within limits.

 

Russian authorities had conducted an assessment of Smolensk on 16 March, to check that the airport was capable of handling Tu-154 and Tu-134 aircraft. On 25 March a subsequent flight test of the airport's equipment showed that the approach radar, the NDB beacon and its markers, as well as the airfield lighting and radio systems met criteria for an approach on an easterly magnetic heading of 259°.

 

MAK says that Smolensk could not support an approach using the aircraft's flight director.

 

Five days before the accident the airport was declared ready to receive both the Tu-154 and the Yakovlev Yak-40 used by the Polish presidential air wing, down to a minimums of 100m (330ft) height and 1,000m visibility.

 

After departing Warsaw on 10 April the Tu-154 cruised over Belarus at an altitude of around 10,000m. During the en route phase of flight the crew communicated with both Minsk and Moscow area control centres in English, but switched to Russian when the aircraft came under the responsibility of Smolensk controllers.

 

MAK says it has completed its interpretation of the crew members' conversation, and clearly identified their voices. "The work was complicated by high levels of noise, including that due to the open cockpit door," it states, adding that the investigators have had to use special analysis techniques to filter out the extraneous sound.

 

But it points out: "It was discovered that, in the cockpit, were people who were not members of the crew."

 

One of the voices has been "accurately identified", it states, but the source of the other voices is subject to further analysis by Polish specialists. "This is important for the inquiry," adds MAK, but stresses that it is not disclosing names. Several senior military and political figures were among the delegation on board the aircraft.

 

Minsk and Smolensk controllers, as well as the crew of a Polish state Yak-40 flying ahead of the presidential Tu-154, "repeatedly informed" the Tu-154 crew about the weather at Smolensk. The Yak-40 landed at Smolensk at 09:15, about 1h 30min before the accident.

 

Some 27min before the crash, the Tu-154 descended to a height of 7,500m and Minsk controllers informed that Smolensk was experiencing fog with visibility down to just 400m. Having been handed off to Smolensk the crew twice received similar information, the 400m visibility being far below the minimum criteria for approach.

 

Sixteen minutes before the accident, the Yak-40 crew relayed the 400m figure and added that the vertical visibility was just 50m. Another aircraft, an Ilyushin Il-76, had made two approaches to Smolensk before aborting its approach and diverting to an alternate airport. The visibility continued to decline and, four minutes before the crash, the Yak-40 crew told the Tu-154 pilots that it had fallen to just 200m.

 

The crew opted initially to test the approach down to the 100m decision height. MAK says the controller, during the Tu-154's turn to base leg, informed the pilots that they would need to prepare for a go-around at 100m.

 

During the approach the Tu-154 had its autopilot engaged for longitudinal and lateral control, and its autothrottle was active.

 

The aircraft's terrain awareness and warning system had signalled 'terrain ahead', before instructing the pilots to 'pull up' around 18s before the accident. Just 5s before the impact the longitudinal autopilot channel was disengaged, followed immediately by the autothrottle, in preparation for a go-around.

 

While the runway lay at 258m above sea level, the aircraft by this point had descended into a ravine located about 1km from the threshold. It was flying some 15m below the level of the runway elevation and - at 1,100m from the threshold, and 40m left of the centreline - struck a tree at a height of less than 11m.

 

The aircraft continued for another 260m, and drifted 80m left of the centreline, before colliding with another tree, whose trunk was 30-40cm in diameter.

 

This impact badly damaged the jet, shearing off the tip of the left wing. Crippled, the Tu-154 rolled to the left. Within 220m it had rolled 90° and was fully inverted within a further 120m. MAK says around 5-6s elapsed between the initial structural damage and the complete destruction of the aircraft just after 10:41.

 

Forensic examination shows the occupants of the Tu-154 were subjected to forces in the region of 100g, says MAK, and survival was "impossible".

 

The airport's lighting had been checked earlier in the day, prior to the jet's arrival, and found to be operational. There were no problems with the Tu-154's engines.

 

Further investigation, says MAK, will include additional analysis of the flight-management system - the aircraft was fitted with satellite-based navigation equipment - and the terrain warning system, as well as a detailed assessment of the crew and operating procedures, and an examination of the flight under the weather conditions present on the day.

[Pieter C. 5]

Russia Hands Over Plane Crash Recordings To Poland

 

May 31, 2010

 

Russia agreed on Monday to give Poland copies of cockpit recordings as part of an investigation into last month's plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

 

During a meeting in Moscow, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller signed an agreement allowing Poland to obtain the recordings.

 

Under the deal, the original black box recordings will stay in Russia until the investigation is completed.

 

"Handing over the copies does not mean the investigation is over," Ivanov said during the meeting.

 

Kaczynski's plane -- a Russian-built TU-154 aircraft -- crashed outside Russia's Smolensk airport on April 10, killing the Polish leader and 95 others.

 

Among those who died with Kaczynski were the heads of Poland's army and navy, its central bank governor, lawmakers and members of the presidential administration.

 

The Polish leader was late for a planned ceremony in nearby Katyn forest marking the 70th anniversary of the murder of some 22,000 Polish army officers and intellectuals there by the Soviet NKVD secret police.

 

During the Moscow meeting, Ivanov and Miller praised cooperation between their countries as transparent and unprecedented. Handing over the copies will help Poland with its own investigation and analysis of the crash.

 

Ivanov said that under an international agreement on plane crash investigations, not all data can be made public before the case is closed, including communication between the pilots and control towers.

 

Miller told reporters after the meeting that the sides had agreed there would be no "surprises" when it comes to publication of information, adding however that it is up to Warsaw to decide which data should be made public.

 

Miller said: "The Russian side will be informed in advance, but we do not need consent to make this public."

 

Poles will elect a new president on June 20. Kaczynski's twin brother Jaroslaw is running for the post but is expected to take second place behind Bronislaw Komorowski, the candidate of Tusk's centrist ruling Civic Platform.

 

(Reuters)