Poland’s interior minister, Jerzy Miller, who is heading a separate investigation, did not contest the findings but emphasized that he believes both Polish and Russian aviation officials were unprepared for ensuring a safe landing.
The pilots’ decision to land in heavy fog at an airport with only basic navigation equipment has been accepted by both as the main reason for the crash.
Poles, however, had been eagerly awaiting the Russian report to learn if other factors — such as possible mistakes by Russian air traffic controllers — might have played a role.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the late president’s twin brother, criticized the Russian report, calling it a “mockery of Poland.’’ He said it failed to offer convincing evidence the Poles are solely responsible.
In Moscow, officials of the Interstate Aviation Committee, which investigates crashes in much of the former Soviet Union, said the pilots were pressured to land by Poland’s air force commander, General Andrzej Blasik, who was in the cockpit. His presence was a violation of so-called “sterile cockpit’’ safety rules and he had a blood-alcohol level of about 0.06 percent, the Russian investigators said. That level is enough to impair reasoning.
Blasik’s presence in the cockpit “had a psychological influence on the commander’s decision to take an unjustified risk by continuing the descent with the overwhelming goal of landing by all means necessary,’’ committee chairwoman Tatiana Anodina told a news conference.
Kaczynski slammed that conclusion, saying that a suggestion of pressure on the pilots is speculation with no confirmation from the flight recorders.
He also said he was not convinced Blasik had been drinking but in any case there is no proof a “small amount of alcohol’’ would have contributed to the crash.
The report found no fault with Russian air traffic controllers, who “gave no permission to land,’’ said Alexei Morozov, head of the committee’s technical commission. “They gave permission to descend to 100 meters. The crew should have started a second attempt, but instead continued their unauthorized descent.’’
Kaczynski was headed to a ceremony commemorating victims of the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which 20,000 Polish officers and other prisoners were killed by Soviet secret police. The massacre has long been a significant irritant in relations between Poland and Russia. But Russia has recently attempted to end tensions by acknowledging the killings were ordered by Josef Stalin.
