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Poland blames Smolensk crash on Russian airport staff

© Sputnik / Oleg Mineev / Go to the mediabankPoland blames Smolensk crash on Russian airport staff
Poland blames Smolensk crash on Russian airport staff - Sputnik International
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Russian air traffic controllers were under pressure, made a number of errors and failed to warn the Polish pilots that they were off course, a Polish commission investigating the Smolensk air crash said on 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, a Polish commission investigating the Smolensk air crash said on Tuesday.

It did not say exactly who had exerted pressure on Russian traffic controllers at the time when President Lech Kaczynski's plane crashed in western Russia.

Interior Minister Jerzy Miller said he hoped lessons would be learned from the crash.

"I believe it is not only in Polish but also in Russian interests, in the interest of everyone who will be landing at Severny Airport, to draw conclusions from the tragedy," he said.

The CIS International Aviation Committee 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.

WARSAW, January 18 (RIA Novosti)

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