Putin promises swift probe into Kaczynski plane crash

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has promised a swift probe into the cause of the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and at least 96 others Saturday.

“We must do everything to help the families and dependants of the victims,” Putin told state television following an inspection of the crash site near Smolensk, in western Russia. He also held a minute’s silence for the victims there.

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev had earlier appointed the Kremlin chief as head an official commission of inquiry into the crash.

The bodies of all the victims had now been recovered and would be taken to Moscow, Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said meanwhile.

Kaczynski’s wife, Maria, the head of the Polish central bank, and much of Poland’s military leadership, died in the crash.

Transport Minister Igor Levitin has meanwhile accused the Polish pilots of the Russian-built Tupolev TU-154, of having acted on their own authority.

The range of visibility at the crash site amounted to only 400 metres, while prescribed range for landings was 1,000 metres, he said.

The aircraft’s flight recorders have been found, Levitin said. The devices would be examined by Russian and Polish experts in Moscow.