Don't fly Polak - Non-Crew in Cockpit of Doomed Polish Flight

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/wo.../20poland.html

MOSCOW — Aviation authorities on Wednesday offered the most detailed
picture to date of the terrifying moments before last month’s plane
crash in Russia that killed Poland’s president, including confirmation
that two or more passengers were in the cockpit before the aircraft
attempted to land.

In a news conference in Moscow, officials from Russia and Poland ruled
out the possibility that technical failure, sabotage or terrorism could
have caused the retrofitted Tupolev TU-154 carrying the president, Lech
Kaczynski, and 95 others on board to slam into the trees just shy of a
western Russian airport on April 10.

Rather, the officials, who offered no definitive conclusions, said
investigators were exploring whether cellphone use on aboard the plane
or crew inexperience, among other factors, could have caused the crash.

Investigators have also focused on the situation in the cockpit ahead of
the crash in part to explain why the voices of passengers were captured
on cockpit data recorders.

“It has been established that in the cockpit, there were individuals
that were not members of the crew,” said Tatyana Anodina, the head of
the Interstate Aviation Committee. “As for the influence on the decision
making of the crew, this should be investigated,” she said. “This is
important for the investigation and for establishing the cause” of the
crash.

Edmond Klich, an envoy from the Polish government, said the voices were
recorded 16 to 20 minutes before the crash.

Ms. Anodina said aviation rules prohibited her from releasing details
about what was said in the cockpit, though the revelation could add to
speculation that the pilots were pressed to land so that Mr. Kaczynski
and other dignitaries would not be late for ceremonies marking the 70th
anniversary of the Katyn massacre.

It was the first time a Polish president was invited by Russia to mark
the anniversary at the site of the massacre, where in 1940 Soviet troops
killed more than 20,000 Polish officers. The event was to be a symbol
that Russia and Poland had overcome years of bitterness and had begun to
improve relations.

Mr. Kaczynski’s delegation, which included his wife and top civilian and
military officials, was already an hour and a half behind schedule when
the plane took off from Poland for a military airfield in Smolensk in
western Russia, said Aleksei Morozov, another official with the
Interstate Aviation Committee.

As the plane approached the airport, air traffic controllers repeatedly
warned that weather conditions were unfavorable for landing. About 11
minutes before the crash, the crew was informed that a Russian plane had
failed at two landing attempts and had diverted to an alternative
airport. About four minutes before the crash, Mr. Morozov said, air
traffic controllers warned the crew that heavy fog had reduced
visibility to around 650 feet.

The crew ignored the warnings and requested clearance for a landing
attempt.

About 18 seconds before the crash, an alarm sounded warning the pilots
to immediately increase altitude. For unknown reasons the pilots did not
respond. The plane began to break up after its left wing hit a birch
tree that was between 12 and 16 inches in diameter, Mr. Morozov said.

“From the time the fuselage started to break up,” Mr. Morozov said,
“until its complete destruction due to its upside-down impact with the
ground took five to six seconds.”

--
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact, to
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel of New York's
million dollar tax evasion. On February 25, 2010, the House ethics
committee has concluded that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B.
Rangel knowingly accepted Caribbean trips in violation of House rules that
forbid hidden financing by corporations. Democrat criminal Nancy Pelosi
is deliberately ignoring the million dollar tax evasion of Democrat
Charles Rangel.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to be forced to remove Charles B. Rangel
from the House Ways and Means Committee.


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---