MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax) - A reason why a final procedural decision has not been made regarding the crash of late Polish President Lech Kaczynski's plane in the Smolensk region is that Warsaw does not respond to the inquiries of Russian law enforcement agencies.
"We evaluate the cooperation with the Polish investigative authorities throughout the period of this investigation as constructive and fruitful," Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax.
"Nevertheless, our Polish colleagues have yet to answer some inquiries of the Russian side, which is a reason why a final procedural decision cannot be made in this case," Markin said.
The wreckage of late Polish President Lech Kaczynski's plane that crashed in the Smolensk region on April 10, 2010, can be transferred to Poland after the investigation is over, he continued.
"I would like to reiterate that statements by some Polish individuals claiming the politicization of the transfer of the plane's wreckage are totally unfounded. There can be no political motivation here whatsoever," Markin said.
"Material evidence is held by the investigative body in any country as long as the investigation continues. This is an absolutely standard worldwide practice," Markin said.
Detectives looking into the crash of late Polish President Lech Kaczynski's plane in the Smolensk region in April 2010 have questions for the pilot of a Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft which landed in the same airport shortly before the tragedy, he added.
"The pilot of a Yakovlev Yak-40 plane which landed in Smolensk earlier that evening told the [Polish plane] crew about bad weather conditions," Markin told Interfax on Thursday.
"We still have some questions about the conduct of this pilot: he was perfectly aware of the failure of weather conditions to meet minimum airport requirements and the extremely limited visibility but twice repeated the phrase "you can try" which might have given the [Polish plane] crew an idea of the possibility to land in the absence of appropriate conditions," he said.
The plane of the Polish president crashed in the Smolensk area on April 10, 2010, with 96 people on board. There were no survivors. Kaczynski was going to attend remembrance events in Katyn where Polish servicemen were executed by the NKVD in 1940.
According to Markin, most procedures in the case comprising of more than 400 volumes have been completed: over 500 witnesses have been interviewed, over 1,500 objects and documents have been examined, and over 1,500 examinations have been done in addition to eight ongoing tests.
"So far, we can say that the crash was caused by a combination of factors, such as the crew's failure to choose a landing at an alternate airfield because of bad weather, the descent to levels below minimums (100 meters) in making a second approach, and the multiple ignored alerts from the ground proximity warning systems," he said.
"As to the recent statement by the Polish prosecution service regarding accusations against Russian air traffic controllers, I would like to say again that Russian detectives have no grounds to suspect even minimal responsibility of the airfield control team for the crash. They acted in strict compliance with the regulations and international civil aviation rules," Markin continued.
The Aeronautical Information Publication compels captains of foreign aircraft flying to Russia to make independent decisions about takeoffs and landings and to bear full responsibility for their decisions.
"The same was said at the control post. It would suffice to recall a phrase from conversations in the flight control team: 'This is the decision of international flight No1, that is his own decision." The air traffic controller was compelled to inform the crew about airfield conditions and that was done to a full extent: the air traffic controller permitted a "trial" approach at an altitude of at least 100 meters and ordered a second approach from those levels. The crew confirmed the instructions but failed to meet them," Markin said.