BREAKING: Polish President, 131 Others Killed in Plane Crash

If anyone on board insisted on landing despite the conditions because they were in a rush to get to the funeral, that sent everyone on board to their funerals. It might turn out the aircraft itself had nothing to do with the crash.

An A320 or 737NG might be harder to crash, but "Russian plane", "1960's design", etc are always used by the media to sensationalize and exaggerate. Actually the Tu-154 has an average safety record that likely would be a lot better had it been operated by airlines in the West like the 727 and 737 were.

That's a good point Mario.

Senga

Very sad news. I send my condolences to the Polish people on this tragic lost. It is ironic, as had already been mentioned, that the entourage were coming to pay tribute to those massacred during WWII near Smolensk. I am confused about the tail number. I read an article somewhere that the registration was PLF-101. Is this correct? This is different than regular Polish aircraft whose tail numbers begin with SP.

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Originally Posted by Speedbird1

Very sad news. I send my condolences to the Polish people on this tragic lost. It is ironic, as had already been mentioned, that the entourage were coming to pay tribute to those massacred during WWII near Smolensk. I am confused about the tail number. I read an article somewhere that the registration was PLF-101. Is this correct? This is different than regular Polish aircraft whose tail numbers begin with SP.

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the airplane was operated by the air force, the serial number was 101. only those airplanes on the civilian register are SP-XXX.

First, my condolences to the families of those killed and the citizens of Poland. Outside of the tragedy I'm somewhat shocked by one minor and major policy of what happened. Respectively, I'm surprised that the Polish government uses Soviet aircraft at all. Especially, considering the history and animosity concerning Russian policy towards Poland since Stalin. My second surprise was the many high-officials on that flight. This is a good lesson in not putting all your eggs in one basket.

NYCAviation:

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:arrow: Polish President Publicly Ridiculed Pilot Following 2008 Flight Diversion

The crew of the doomed Polish Air Force jet which crashed on Saturday—killing the President and other top Polish officials—may have felt pressured to land in dangerous conditions.

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FYI: I read in a polish news paper last night that Time Warner Cable will make the Polish Channel TVP free from Thur. until Sunday night in NYC and some surrounding areas so that the Polish community and other's can watch the President's funeral on Sunday and other news and events till Sunday night.