Following a Prime Minister’s decree dated 9 April of this year, a 'new team of experts' has been established, with an aim to explain to the public opinion the official governmental findings of the so called Polish Miller Committee. It would seem that the ongoing media lies, deceptions and propaganda (based on Russian and Polish official governmental reports) have not been enough in themselves. The new team will consist of up to 6 members and more than 20 associates, all of them expected to receive monthly remunerations from tax-payers.

 

The new governmental committee will be lead by Maciej Lasek, the Chief of the State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation (PKBWL), who was previously a member of the original Polish governmental Miller Committee team set to investigate the causes of the crash.

 

The set up of this new Committee by the Prime Minister is unavoidably due to the increasing doubts, questions and concerns showed by poles in recent opinion polls. Recent surveys have shown that 52% of Poles believe that the reasons for the crash have still not been clarified and do not believe in official accounts of the causes of the crash. Whereas, 31,7% of Poles believe that the delegation to Smolensk was in fact assassinated.

 

However, the main reason for the set up of this new government supported team lead by Maciej Lasek is undoubtedly to counter and discredit the so far extensive works and findings of the independent Parliamentary Group for the investigation of the Polish Presidential plane crash chaired by MP Antoni Macierewicz, whose extensive works and findings have largely discredited Polish and Russian governmental reports, pointing to explosions on board the plan whilst still in flight as the main cause behind the crash.

 

From the very outset, the controversial handling of the Smolensk plane crash investigation by both the governments in Moscow and Warsaw raised many questions and provoked numerous suspicions.

 

On July 29, 2011 the Polish Government’s Commission to Investigate National Aviation Accidents, headed by former Interior Minister Jerzy Miller (generally referred to as simply the “Miller Commission”) published its report on the tragic plane crash of April 10, 2010.

 

The drafters of the MAK and Miller Reports laboured under the duress of a preconceived political hypothesis.

 

The Russians investigation and committee (MAK) ultimately controlled by Vladimir Putin pinned the blame squarely on the Poles from the very outset, alleging that the reckless and incompetent pilots strove to land at any price under pressure from an intoxicated Gen. Andrzej Błasik (commander of the Polish Air Force) and an irritable President Lech Kaczyński. From the day of the crash, the Russian side has clung steadfastly to this version, which became the overarching thesis of the crash report generated by the Russian-controlled Interstate Aviation Committee (Mezhdugosudarstvennyi Aviatsionnyi Komitet or MAK) on January 12, 2011.

 

The Polish Miller Committee blamed inadequate pilot training, poor cooperation between crew members, inadequate knowledge of the landing area and poor supervision. The investigators also reported that the Smolensk airport had been poorly maintained with equipment and inadequate lighting for the foggy conditions. However the report also said that Russia was partly to blame for the crash near Smolensk. The conclusions contrast with those of an official Russian report that placed the blame for the accident on pilot error. Moscow's investigation was labelled "incomplete" by the Polish government, and accusations of a cover-up abounded leading to further strains.

 

The Polish and Russian governmental reports are unavoidably political, consequently biased in nature and possess an inherent conflict of interest (suffice to say, parties responsible for preparing and organising the flight, were the actual authors of the final Polish governmental report). Many findings of both Russian and Polish governmental reports have been proven to be false and unfounded, subsequently giving a misleading picture and set of circumstances into the death of 96 Polish EU citizens. It is worth mentioning that, the Polish committee investigating the circumstances of the Smolensk crash was created and operated pursuant to provisions that are contradictory to aviation law. With the Miller's committee being illegal, its final report has no legal basis.

 

However, much of the findings of both the Russian MAK and Polish Miller reports have been largely discredited by a team of experts working with the Antoni Macierewicz, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group for the Investigation of the Polish Presidential plane crash. His committee continues to investigate all aspects of the crash, relying on experts from Poland, U.S., Russia and other countries. The committee has since its establishment published several reports into the causes of the crash - widely different from those of the Russian and Polish governmental committees. The Parliamentary Groups findings have pointed to explosions on board the plan whilst still in flight as the cause of the crash.

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Background information:

 

Tatiana Anodina - Chair of the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) responsible for drafting the Russian report.
 



Jerzy Miller (left, with Tatiana Anodina) - politician, former Minister of Interior (14.10.2009 - 18.11.2011) and former Chair of the Committee for Investigation of National Aviation Accidents (KBWLLP) from 28.04.2010 - 29.07.2011 responsible for drafting the final Polish report into the crash. During the Smolensk investigation, he was at the same time Minister of Interior and Chair of the Committee for Investigation of National Aviation Accidents (KBWLLP). Additionally, the Ministry of Interior was among others responsible for the organisation of the flight. The organisation of the flight was neglected and it was shown that the flight was poorly prepared and that severe “irregularities” had occurred, on many levels.

Maciej Lasek - Chief of the State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation (PKBWL) since February 2012. This commission is a full-time commission, whereas the KBWLLP is set up for each crash.



Edmund Klich (left, with Tatiana Anodina) - former Polish accredited to the Russian MAK investigation and former Chief of the State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation (PKBWL) up until Feb 2012 (replaced by Maciej Lasek), as well as former Chair of the Committee for Investigation of National Aviation Accidents (KBWLLP) from 15.04.2010 do 28.04.2010. During this period he was at the same time Chair of the PKBWL, Chair of the KBWLLP and accredited to the Russian investigation.
 
Antoni Macierewicz - Chairman of the Parliamentary Group for the Investigation of the Polish Presidential plane crash