- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Poland wants to question Russian air traffic controllers

© RIA Novosti . Ilya Pitalev / Go to the mediabankPolish air crash drama
Polish air crash drama - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Polish military prosecutors have asked Russia for permission to question Smolensk air traffic controllers over their role in last year's fatal crash of President Lech Kaczynski's plane, Poland's TVN24 channel reported on Wednesday.

Polish military prosecutors have asked Russia for permission to question Smolensk air traffic controllers over their role in last year's fatal crash of President Lech Kaczynski's plane, Poland's TVN24 channel reported on Wednesday.

"The Polish side has asked that [Smolensk] Severny Airport traffic controllers be questioned as witnesses with the participation of Polish military prosecutors," Col. Zbigniew Rzepa, a spokesman for the Polish Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, was quoted as saying.

A Polish commission investigating the Smolensk air crash said last Tuesday Russian air traffic controllers were under pressure, made a number of errors and failed to warn the Polish pilots that they were off course.

The CIS International Aviation Committee (MAK) released a report on January 12 citing pilot error as the main cause of the tragedy that occurred when the presidential plane hit trees while landing in thick fog near the city of Smolensk.

Polish experts and officials have criticized the report for lacking in evidence.

The Tu-154 that crashed near Smolensk was carrying then President Kaczynski and other senior Polish officials to a ceremony to honor Polish officers killed by Soviet secret police in 1940.

WARSAW, January 26 (RIA Novosti)

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала