Will this air crash be a milestone in improving relationships with the Russians?
The Poles are naturally turning out to mourn their President and other leaders killed in the tragic accident at Smolensk.
Sadly, I fear that if and when the investigation turns up the truth about what happened the reaction may be more questionable. The Russians have apparently recovered the black boxes and presumably cockpit recordings, and what already seems clear from ATC Officers involved is that the pilot had categorically refused “instructions” to land at another airport, Smolensk being judged by ATC to be too dangerous.
Now others on Learning from Dogs will know far better than me, but it seems to me extraordinary that a professional, experienced pilot would refuse such advice and try to land in such appalling weather conditions.
This of course begs the question of why he did so, which is where the deceased President may come in. An extract from the NY Times of April 12th:
Investigators examining the crash appeared to be focusing on why the pilot did not heed instructions from air traffic controllers to give up trying to land in bad weather in western Russia on Saturday morning.
Their inquiry may lead to an even more delicate question: whether the pilot had felt under pressure to land to make sure that the Polish delegation would not be late for a ceremony on Saturday in the Katyn forest, where more than 20,000 Polish officers and others were massacred by the Soviets during World War II.
Let us hope that it was mechanical failure of some kind (though early reports seem to rule this out) rather than the repetition of a previous incident where the Polish President had argued with the pilot of his plane.
This tragic event is of course surreally-ironic, as if the grisly hand of Josef Stalin had risen from the grave to cause the deaths of yet more Poles in addition to the 20,000 or so murdered in Katyn Forest on his direct orders.
As one who grew up during decades of Soviet denials of responsibility for this cruel genocide, I have been moved by the reaction of the Russians to all this, and no more so than by Putin himself. This is a man who referred to the demise of the Soviet Union as “the greatest tragedy of my life”, yet his grief and fellow-feeling for the Poles have been clear and genuine.
It was already a major breakthrough that Russia should have after all this time so clearly accepted responsiblity – and made apologies – for the Katyn massacre. That Putin and others have shown such fellow-feeling for the Polish loss gives one hope for a deeper reconciliation after the terrible schism in Europe caused by the Russian Revolution and seizure of power by Stalin, possibly the most murderous dictator in history. It was always insane that Russia should be our enemy; let us hope that by and by they will become our firm friends and allies.
By Chris Snuggs
Learning from Dogs 