The special commission, led by Antoni Macierewicz, unveiled its findings in a 338-page report on Monday, the state PAP news agency reported.
Macierewicz, a senior conservative politician, said the panel’s work had been undermined by Russian authorities who “withheld, destroyed and fabricated evidence.”
He added: “As a result of comprehensive actions by the Russian side, doubtlessly conducted with the involvement of top decision makers, including the president of the Russian Federation, Mr. Putin, the Polish side faces significant difficulties in obtaining full evidence.”
‘Pilots followed procedures’
After investigating the circumstances of the disaster, the inquiry found that “the crew of the Tu-154M plane followed all the procedures and steps required to approach the airport in Smolensk,” western Russia, Macierewicz said.
The head of the probe added that “evidence pointing to mistakes by the crew, such as recordings from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) ... has been largely tampered with.”
He said the CVR “bore multiple marks of interference,” and its recordings “were doctored to suit the false theory" according to which the crash was blamed on an "armoured birch tree."
‘Explosion before the plane hit the ground’
Macierewicz said the panel was in possession of “eyewitness testimonies by many people, mainly Russian nationals, who heard an explosion before the plane hit the ground.”
He added that “more than 20 witnesses heard at least two blasts, they saw an explosion and the disintegration of the plane, especially its tail part.”
‘Crash caused by illegal interference from Russia’
The head of the inquiry said that the 2010 Smolensk air disaster had been caused “by an act of illegal interference by the Russian Federation into the Tu-154M plane carrying the delegation of the president of the Republic of Poland.”
‘Explosion before crash proves Russia’s involvement’
Macierewicz stated: “The main and indisputable proof of this interference was the explosion in the left wing, which happened some 100 metres before the aircraft passed the birch tree ...”
He added that at the time of the blast, “there were no high trees or any other obstacles below that could endanger the plane.”
Macierewicz said his panel had “identified precisely the place, timing and sound of the explosion which destroyed the wing and set the disaster in motion.”
“It was followed by another blast in the central section of the aircraft, some dozen metres above ground, which destroyed the entire plane and killed the Polish delegation led by President Lech Kaczyński,” the head of the inquiry told reporters.
The report also said that the Russian-produced plane had earlier undergone maintenance work in Samara, Russia, overseen by the Russian security services, “who were thus able to take unhindered action to pose a threat to the security of the plane’s future passengers,” according to the PAP news agency.
The Smolensk disaster
The plane crash near the western Russian city of Smolensk on April 10, 2010, killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and dozens of top officials. It is still a source of controversy and recriminations.
The new Polish commission to reinvestigate the crash was set up by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power in 2015.
The party's head, Jarosław Kaczyński, is the twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczyński.
The ruling conservatives had long challenged an official report into the crash issued by the previous Polish government, which cited a catalogue of errors on the Polish side, while also pointing to errors made by Russian staff at the control tower of Smolensk Military Airport.
A Russian report placed all the blame on the Poles.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, podkomisja.info