On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Smolensk Plane Crash-which occurred on April 10, 2010 — physicist Dr. Kazimierz Nowaczyk delivered a lecture (part of the Intermarium series) on the current state of our knowledge about this aerial disaster. The lecture took place at The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. The crash killed the Polish presidential couple and almost a hundred members of that pro-American nation’s political and military elite as they flew to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the genocidal Soviet massacre of the Polish elite at Katyn, which — rather ominously — occurred quite close to the crash site.

Dr. Nowaczyk reminded the audience of the role of the Russian air traffic controllers, who misled the Polish pilots by telling them that they were “on the right course.” He also emphasized that the Russian rescue units arrived at the crash site very late — about 27 minutes after the disaster. At the same time, the elite Spetsnaz special forces were in the area from the beginning. The physicist also remarked that the thick fog that has become the subject of arguments about Smolensk, was present only around the Severnyi Airport area, but not much farther away that its vicinity.

A key piece of evidence to note, he pointed out, is the fragmentation of the Soviet-built Tupolev aircraft and the dispersal of these pieces over a large area. Polish archeologists found approximately 60,000 such fragments at the crash site, which is much more than other cases of aviation accidents caused by explosions. In the case of Smolensk, Dr. Nowaczyk argued that at least “two internal explosions” occurred.

In addition, Dr. Nowaczyk argued that we should remember that the post-Soviet Russians brazenly contaminated and desecrated the crash site and the evidence. The wreckage was further torn apart using tools and machinery. Windows, which could contain evidentiary material, were smashed. The pieces of the fuselage were moved to the Severnyi tarmac and exposed to the effects of the weather. Other pieces were moved around the crash site, such as the left stabilizer, which was shifted about 20 meters based on satellite photos from April 11-12, 2010. Even top soil was moved around and trees cut down.

Furthermore, the Russians continue to hold on to the black box — which is legally the property of the Republic of Poland — and have tampered with that evidence as well. The Poles were only given copies, which — as it turned out — were missing the last seconds of a crucial minute, which were apparently erased. What these copies do nevertheless show is abrupt violent movement right before the crash.

What is more, the traces of the aircraft on the ground are consistent neither with the Russian-generated MAK Report, nor the official Warsaw report, both of which subscribe to the “pilot error/birch tree” narrative. Yet, as Dr. Nowaczyk pointed out, the infamous “iron birch” — whatever its actual maximum height — was located below the location of the aircraft at the time that it supposedly struck the tree. However, even if the plane — which was traveling at the approximate speed of 270 kilometers (168 miles) per hour — had actually hit the birch, it would have sliced through it quite easily. This was demonstrated by Dr. Wiesław Binienda’s famous LS DYNA simulation, which — as Dr. Nowaczyk pointed out — multiplied the hardness of the tree by a factor of ten. The birch tree was thus clearly not the culprit of the disaster.

Dr. Nowaczyk’s presentation showed that sufficient evidence exists to revisit the Smolensk Plane Crash — especially in the current geopolitical environment.

Paweł Styrna

Please click here to view Dr. Nowaczyk’s PowerPoint presentation: Smolensk: Four Years Later, Nowaczyk