Polish President Lech Kaczyński Dies In Plane Accident

Wysyłamy nasze kondolencje dla mieszkańców Polska. Dzielimy smutek utraty wielkiego człowieka.

Tragedy befell Poland yesterday when the plane carrying the nation's Christian-Conservative nationalist President, Lech Kaczyński, crashed just north of Smolensk, Russia. There were no survivors. In addition to the popular president, who's identical twin brother is a former Polish Prime Minister and the current chairman of the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) Party the brothers started.

In addition to President Kaczyński, his wife Maria, the Chief of Staff of the Polish Army, other senior military officials, the Vice Speakers of the lower and upper houses of the Sejm (parliament), the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and several leaders of various religious groups in Poland. The group was flying to Russia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre (when Stalin had ordered the mass murder of Polish POWs).

Because of the tremendous political implications of this tragedy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered Prime Minister Putin to work with Polish authorities to investigate the crash. Although, it appears obvious in the initial stages that heavy fog eliminated visibility. Although the Air Traffic Controllers at Smolensk North advised the plane to head to a safer airport (Moscow or the Belarus capital of Minsk), they were determined to land at Smolensk. On its fourth attempt to land, the plane clipped the tree tops of a nearby wooded area, which caused the deaths.

Moscow and Minsk are approximately 200 miles away from Smolensk as the crow flies, which would have been a tremendous change in the President's plans, assuming they had enough fuel to get there in the first place. That's a topic for a later day, however. Our condolences go out to the people of Poland and the families of the victims of this tragedy. Lech Kaczyński was truly a inspirational leader and someone who loved his country and countrymen.

As noted in local media outlets, President Kaczyński was planning on coming to Chicago on May 3rd to commemorate Polish Constitution Day and lead the annual Chicago parade celebrating the holiday. This weekend's tragedy has just placed a dark cloud over the Constitution Day festivities.