Polish Presidential Plane Crashes; All Aboard Dead

[UNHWildCats]

SMOLENSK, Russia - Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military and civilian leaders died when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia on Saturday, killing 96, officials said.

Russian and Polish officials said there were no survivors on the Soviet-era Tupolev, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.

The Army chief of staff, Gen. Franciszek Gagor, National Bank President Slawomir Skrzypek and Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer were also on board, the Polish foreign ministry said.

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[dbackjon]

That 's horrible...

[JMU DJ]

Is it bad that the first thing I thought of when I read this thread title was Polish jokes.....

[Ivytalk]

Very sad. Why did they have all those folks on one plane?

[Grizalltheway]

Very sad. Why did they have all those folks on one plane?

and on a Soviet-made plane, to boot.

[UNHWildCats]

Very sad. Why did they have all those folks on one plane?

and on a Soviet-made plane, to boot.

A soviet-made plane with a long list of fatal crashes at that.


_ April 10, 2010: The Polish presidential plane crashes on approach to Smolensk airport, Russia, killing all on board.

_ July 15, 2009: A Caspian Airlines Tu-154 flying from Iran to Armenia nosedives into a field, killing 168 people.

_ Sept. 1, 2006: A Tu-154 jetliner operated by Iran Airtour skids off the runway and catches fire while landing in the northern city of Mashad, Iran, killing 80 of 147 passengers.

_ Aug. 22, 2006: A Tu-154 of Russia's Pulkovo Airlines with about 170 people aboard crashes during a thunderstorm in Ukraine en route from a Black Sea resort to St. Petersburg, killing all aboard.

_ Aug. 24, 2004: A Tu-154 operated by Sibir Airlines crashes en route from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, killing all 46 people aboard. The crash was later determined to be caused by explosives brought on board by a Chechen suicide bomber.

_ July 1, 2002: A Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154 flying to Barcelona, Spain, from Ufa, Russia, collides with a cargo plane over Germany, killing 71, including 52 children.

_ Feb. 12, 2002: A Tu-154 airliner operated by Iran Airtour carrying 119 people smashed into snow-covered mountains near its destination of Khorramabad, 230 miles southwest of Tehran, killing all aboard.

_ Oct. 4, 2001: A Sibir Airlines Tu-154 flying from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Novosibirsk, Russia, explodes and plunges into the Black Sea, killing 78 people, most of them Israeli citizens. It was later determined the plane was hit by a Ukrainian missile during military training exercises.

_ July 3, 2001: A Tu-154 operated by the Vladivostokavia airline en route from Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains to Vladivostok crashes in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing all 145 on board.

_ Feb. 24, 1999: A China Southwest Airlines Tu-154 flying from Chengdu crashes on approach to Wenzhou, 800 miles southeast of Beijing, killing all 61 people aboard.

_ Aug. 29, 1998: A Cubana Tu-154 flight from Quito to Havana crashes just after takeoff, killing 79 people, including 10 on the ground when the plane plowed into a soccer field.

_ Dec. 15, 1997: A Tajikistan Airlines Tu-154 crashes in the United Arab Emirates, killing 85 passengers and crew.

_ Aug. 29, 1996: A Vnukovo Airlines Tu-154 passenger plane carrying Russian and Ukrainian miners and their families from Moscow to Norway crashes into a mountain, killing all 141 on board.

_ Dec. 7, 1995: A Tu-154 operated by Aeroflot Khabarovsk Airlines with 97 people on board disappeared flying to the far eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk. The remains were found 11 days later by a helicopter pilot in mountains near the Pacific coast.

_ June 6, 1994: A China Northwest Airlines Tu-154 bound for Guangzhou crashes minutes after takeoff from Xian, a tourist city in northern China, killing all 160 people aboard.

_ Jan. 3, 1994: All 124 people aboard a Moscow-bound Baikal Airlines Tu-154 are killed when it crashes into a snowy field near the town of Irkutsk. A farmer on the ground was also killed.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Is it bad that the first thing I thought of when I read this thread title was Polish jokes.....

Not at all.

[AZGrizFan]

Very sad. Why did they have all those folks on one plane?

and on a Soviet-made plane, to boot.

They probably only HAD one plane.