02 June 2010

POLAND: Smolensk Crash Transcript Released; Pilot Perhaps Not Pressured.

BLOOMBRG  with NYTIMES details/    
Poland released a 40-page transcript about the crash in Smolensk that killed 96 and eviscerated its government. It shows no evidence that President Lech Kaczynski pressured the pilot to land. It also proves that the pilot was aware of the thick fog. “It’s going to be dreadful, we won’t be able to see anything,” said a crew member. Pilot Arkadiusz Protasiuk persisted. “Well, no, you can see the ground,” he said, six minutes later. “You can see something. Maybe there won’t be a tragedy.”