OT- Death of Poland's President and others - Page 1

To all my Polish friends in the GSD world,

My sincere condolences on the loss of your President and some of his top cabinet ministers and military leaders in the crash this date.

To my friend Piotr Bozko of Von Ardelia kennel, I offer my deepest condolences.

Thanks Hodie for opening this subject & giving me the chance to participate & share my friend his sadness.

Hello Tarek,

It is very sad for the nation of Poland to loose so many of their top leaders in such a tragic crash. I have no doubt however, that the people of Poland are strong and will draw together to get through their grief and find others to lead their nation and military.

A plane carrying Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president, has crashed near Smolensk airport in western Russia, killing all 135 passengers on board, Russian and Polish officials say.

Polish officials also confirmed on Saturday that Kaczynski was on board the flight with his wife, as well as Slawomir Skrzypek, the head of Poland's central bank, Andrzej Kremer, the deputy foreign minister and the army chief of staff.

The Tupolev Tu-154 plane crashed on approach to Smolensk airport in thick fog.

Sergei Antufiev, the governor of Russia's Smolensk region, told official media there were no survivors from the crash.

"It clipped the tops of the trees, crashed down and broke into pieces," Antufiev told Russia-24 television.

Polish 'shock'

Rafal Kiepuszewski, a journalist monitoring the situation in Poland, said the news came as a shock to the Polish people.
in depth

To those who missed reading the sad news

Profile: Lech Kaczynski

"The fact that much of the Polish political establishment appears to have been wiped out on this single flight has really come as a profound shock to the Polish nation," he said.

The Polish government delegation was on its way to the city of Smolensk to take part in the 70th commemoration of the Katyn massacre - where Russian forces killed more than 20,000 Polish soldiers.

Kaczynski has served as president of Poland since 2005. Prior to that, he was mayor of Warsaw, the Polish capital.

An emergency government session was being called in Warsaw to discuss the situation, while a crowd could be seen gathering in front of the presidential palace.

Crash investigation

Smolensk local authorities investigating Saturday's crash said that pilot error may have been the cause of the crash.


"The pilot was advised to land in Minsk, but decided to land in Smolensk," Andrei Yevseyenkov, a spokesman for the local government said.

Chris Yates, an aviation expert, told Al Jazeera the the Tupolev Tu-154 is capable of operating in extreme weather conditions and able to land on unpaved airstrips.

"These things are built like thanks," he said via email correspondence.

"From early reports, it would seem to be a fluke accident, with the aircraft clipping trees in the descent."

 I don't know where to begin. What a devastating thing. The Poles will pull thru, but they sure have their work cut out for them. Condolences to all for this shock.

A very day for the polish people and thier country.

Condolences to the families of the victims.

Oh my, how horrible!  Deepest condolences to the families and the nation.

A terrible tragic accident which will be hard for the people of Poland to overcome, But they are a strong race and in time They will recover from this huge loss. Sincere Condolences to the Familes and the People of Poland at this time
Steve1

It wasnt an accident

Planes have autopilot and can land themselves

Qui Bono?  Who Benefits?    Appears to be either the Russian or Israeli Banksters.

Poland recently devalued their currency against the Euro to help exports and angered many higher ups in the EU.

Yes its very sad, but to be expected in the times we are in.