February 3, 2018
Frank Taylor says
he believes Russian and Polish authorities "came to a conclusion early on
and sought evidence to justify it."
A British air
accident investigator has told Sky News he believes there were explosions on
board a plane before it crashed eight years ago, killing Polish President Lech
Kaczynski.
Frank Taylor's
findings challenge the original reports of the Russian and Polish authorities
which blamed pilot error for the crash in Smolensk, Russia, in April 2010 which
killed 96 people.
In his first
television interview, Mr Taylor said: "I think they did not do a thorough
investigation. It seems to me they came to that conclusion early on and sought
evidence to justify it."
Russian investigators
concluded that in dreadful weather conditions the pilot flew too low, hit a
birch tree, searing the wing off.
Mr Taylor was
involved in the Lockerbie and Manchester air crash investigations. He's
examined high resolution photographs of the crash site.
He said: "If
the tip (of the wing) had been cut off by a birch tree the damage wouldn't have
looked like this. It would have been bent back - consistently backwards, rather
than up and maybe even forward.
"As far as I
can see there was an explosion in the wing before the aircraft reached the
birch tree.
"Possibly
some of the bits hit the birch tree afterwards but the evidence is that this
explosion caused the wing tip to come off. Then the aircraft rolled but at a
higher altitude than the Russian report suggests.
"What I can
say is there is no doubt there were explosions on board before the aircraft hit
the ground."
Mr Taylor also
says he believes damage to the left side cabin door is consistent with what he
calls massive internal pressure.
Relatives have
long complained that Russia failed to protect the crash site. Russia has
refused to return any wreckage or the full flight data recordings.
Political
activist Anna Walentynowicz was on the plane. In Poland her son says he was
threatened with jail for speaking out after the wrong body was returned to him
and that no relative can be sure they have actually buried their loved ones.
Those on board
were on their way to the 70th commemoration of the Katyn massacre of Polish
intellectuals, politicians and military officers by the Soviets in the Second
World War.
A member of the
Federation of Katyn Families spoke to us on behalf of the Smolensk relatives
but wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons.
He said:
"Some relatives have reported being threatened and abused by hooligans. I
think it would be fair to describe it as they lived in a climate of fear.
"This is now
no longer a Polish problem - this has become a European problem and perhaps an
international problem. There now needs to be a cohesive effort to deal with
both the air accident investigation side and the human rights violations that
have clearly occurred.
"There are
some important questions to ask Russia. Most of the relatives are utterly
traumatised. They've been waiting for eight years to discover the truth."
Russia says the
crash has already been fully investigated.
Lisa Holland
