Russian air controllers charged for Polish presidential jet disaster

[Bosonic]

Source: AFP

Pilot error was to blame for the 2010 crash of a Polish presidential jet in Russia, but two Russian air traffic controllers also triggered the disaster that killed Poland's then head of state, prosecutors in Warsaw said Friday.

The aircraft went down in thick fog while approaching Smolensk airport in western Russia killing 96, including then president Lech Kaczynski, his wife, the central bank head and military chief of staff among others.

One of the Russian controllers charged with "being directly responsible for having endangered air traffic... while the other is charged with unintentionally causing an air traffic disaster," Warsaw's chief military prosecutor Ireneusz Szelag told reporters.

He said Poland would take steps to bring the two unnamed Russian citizens to justice, but declined to provide any further details.

Read more: https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-air-controllers-charged-polish-141758896.html

[Demeter]

1. Riight

Will they be suing the French ATC over the German co-pilot's unfortunate "accident", too?

Did the Russians put the pilot in the plane? Tell him lies? Goad his to show manhood? I want some details to show that this isn't as ridiculous as it sounds on its face.

[Major Nikon]

2. It's a little different situation

The Polish plane was on approach to an airport. The airport in question did not have an Instrument Landing System (ILS) which is installed at virtually every major US airport. This system allows for precision instrument approaches (both lateral and vertical guidance). Instead, the Russian airport had a Precision Approach Radar (PAR) system which requires the controllers to communicate with the aircrew and basically talk them down the approach. Discrepancies were noted in how the controllers conducted the approach, specifically with telling the crew they were on course and glidepath when they weren't and also for telling them to abort the approach 12 seconds too late.

There were also many errors that the aircrew committed, one of which was they never should have attempted the approach to begin with.

[Blue_Tires]

5. What also goes unmentioned is that the captain was under immense pressure

from the VIPs aboard to land so they could get the memorial event started on time -- IIRC someone's chief of staff was heard on the CVR badgering the captain more than once...The captain knew a diversion would have probably cost him his job...

Also, IIRC, because this was a state visit, the Russian ATC had no authority to deny landing due to unsafe visibility conditions....Charging them is *really* going after the low guys on the totem pole

[Major Nikon]

6. Pilots refer to this affliction as 'get-there-itis'

It is sometimes fatal.

I'm not sure how it works in Russia, but in the US ATC has no authority to deny landing due to unsafe visibility conditions. That doesn't remove them from culpability if they fail to perform their responsibilities. Crashes are often the result of multiple issues.

[snooper2]

4. Well, Putin hired Johnny Cant- "761 land you are really pissing me off"