The April 10 crash of a Tupolev Tu-154 near Smolensk, Russia, that killed the then Polish president and all 95 others aboard has been the source of multiple unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, and a report published Wednesday by a Polish news service might not be an exception. According to the Polish news service TVN24, words that translate roughly to “if we don’t land, they’ll kill me” have been resolved from sections of the VIP flight’s cockpit voice recorder previously deemed incomprehensible. Earlier transcripts that did not include the wording were provided by Russian investigators, but a government spokesperson last week said that Polish experts have now been able to decipher more of the recording. That may not yet be cause to believe TVN24’s report.
TVN24 stated in its report (Google’s translated version of the story) that it received information about the newly deciphered segments from an unofficial source. As for the official sources, the Warsaw Business Journal reported that Polish minister of the interior and administration, Jerzy Miller, has offered no comment regarding TVN24’s report. (The minister represents government supervision of the investigation.) The Journal also wrote that the Polish military prosecutor’s office has also declined comment. An aviation expert cited by TVN24 noted that the meaning of the allegedly newly deciphered sentence, even if confirmed, can not be determined as written words held out of context.
