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Polish minister blasts Russian air traffic controllers over Kaczynski plane crash

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Russian air traffic controllers should have banned any landing attempt by the crashed Polish presidential plane crew, Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller said.

Russian air traffic controllers should have banned any landing attempt by the crashed Polish presidential plane crew, Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller said.

Then Polish president Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other top dignitaries were killed when their plane crashed in thick fog near the western Russian city of Smolensk on April 10, 2010. The delegation was on its way to a commemoration ceremony of the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which more than 20,000 Polish officers were executed by Soviet secret police.

"Air traffic controllers' reaction to an attempt of landing should have been unambiguous," Miller said.

But an expert familiar with the investigation said air traffic controllers are not entitled to prohibit landing in such conditions.

Russian investigators said in a new report on the crash released Wednesday that pilot error was the main cause of the tragedy.

Other errors included a dangerous drop in altitude despite poor visibility, a lack of correct reactions from the pilot despite warnings issued by the automatic Terrain Awareness and Warning System, descending at a speed double the safe rate, and the crew's insufficient command of Russian.

Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) head Tatyana Anodina also said a strong contributory factor to the crash was the presence of the Polish Air Force chief in the cockpit, which had a "psychological impact" on the crew.

The first MAK report was presented to the Polish authorities on October 20, and blamed pilot error for the Tu-154's crash in heavy fog, but in mid-December Poland sent it back to Moscow with 150 comments and queries. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that parts of the report were unacceptable."

Polish experts said they were dissatisfied with the documents provided by Russia. Most of the complaints concerned a lack of technical details about the Severny airport in Smolensk at which the plane was due to land.

The late Polish president's twin brother and opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski criticized on Wednesday the Russian investigation of the plane crash.

However, Russian investigators claim in the report that their cooperation with Polish counterparts during the probe was very close and transparent. At least 24 Polish officials took part in the Russian investigation.

Russian investigators need to study a range of official documents and probes to make a further report on the crash, Russian official investigations spokesman, Vladimir Markin, said adding that Poland has not yet transferred any information to the Investigation Committee on phone calls made by the passengers of the ill-fated airliner prior to its attempted landing.

Tusk on Wednesday urgently returned from vacation for the announcement of the results of the MAK investigation, Polish media said.

WARSAW/MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti)

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