Poland to Retract Theories About Russian Responsibility for Tu-154 Plane Crash in 2010

A Tupolev Tu-154 plane, which was carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and other top public and military members of a Polish delegation, crashed while approaching Smolensk Airport in Russia on April 10, 2010.

Polish authorities will abandon versions about Russia's responsibility for the 2010 crash of a Tu-154 plane near Smolensk that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski, Polish Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Marcin Kerwinski told reporters.

"There are no binding versions here. It is a matter of the state honestly finding out what happened. The report of [former minister] Jerzy Miller explained in detail the causes of that terrible disaster in an honest, comprehensive and profound way. This is an official document," Kierwinski told reporters.

The plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other high-ranking Polish officials occurred on April 10, 2010, in Smolensk, Russia.

A year after the tragedy, the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) announced after an investigation that the immediate cause of the crash was the crew's decision not to seek an alternate airfield in fog conditions, and that the systemic causes were shortcomings in the training of the pilots of the presidential squadron.

The Polish commission headed by former interior minister Jerzy Miller came to similar conclusions at the time, citing the cause of the crash as the aircraft descending below the minimum altitude allowed in foggy conditions. Polish authorities later disagreed with the IAC report and the conclusions of Miller's commission and decided to establish a second commission, which has been unable to complete its work for several years.