MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On December 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin touched on the subject of the plane crash during his annual press conference. He said the bodyguard had demanded to land the plane, though the pilot said it was impossible. Putin added that the bodyguard had refused to convey the pilot’s words to President Kaczynski and said: "Go on, do whatever you want, but land the plane".
"These explanations do not satisfy Poland. They do not explain President Putin’s words, who gave different quotes, cited the recordings. We don't have such recordings," the minister said in Brussels, as cited by the European Commission website.
On April 10, 2010, a Polish jet airliner carrying Kaczynski, his wife and officials crashed amid heavy fog as it attempted to land at an airfield near Smolensk. All 96 people on board died in the crash. The Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee said that the flight crew’s decision not to reroute the plane to an alternative aerodrome had led to the crash.
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