Time Line of Events in Polish Airplane Tragedy

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Polish President Lech Kaczynski prays by the coffin of his brother at Warsaw's airport on April 11, 2010. (Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images)

Saturday, April 10

09:23 – First media report, from Reuters, comes in: Airplane crashed with Polish president on board.
09:25 – Polish Press Agency (PAP) confirms.
09:36 – Emergency services extinguish burning plane and try to rescue passengers.
09:41 – Russian Ministry of Special Events: 87 people died in the catastrophe of the president’s Tupolew airplane.
09:49 – Government Information Center: The Polish premier is on the way to Warsaw from Gdansk.
09:55 – Governor of the Smolensk district: Nobody survived the crash.
10:03 – Russian Public Prosecutor’s Office: Polish president’s T-154 plane crashed in heavy fog.
10:08 – Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Most probably nobody survived the crash.
10:09 – Polish Government Information Center: Polish Premier Donald Tusk calls for special session of Council of Ministers. All Ministers are on their way to Warsaw.
10:15 – Russian President Dmitri Medvedev establishes special commission to investigate the cause of the crash. The Russian premier will personally take charge of it.
10:25 – Office of the speaker of Sejm (the lower house of the Polish Parliament): The speaker is on his way to Warsaw. [According to the Polish constitution, in the case of a president’s death, the speaker of the Sejm assumes the duties of the president.]
10:32 – Emergency services work at the airport in Smolensk. Outside the airport, Polish reporters are waiting. They are not allowed to see the site of the crash.
10:36 – Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman: Everything is pointing toward the likelihood that the presidential couple is dead.
10:40 – Smolensk authority: No black boxes have been recovered.
10:41 – Investigation Committee at General Prosecutors Office of the Russian Federation: There were 132 people on board the Tu-154 plane.
10:55 – Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms: Nobody survived the catastrophe.

11:07 – Spokesman of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Piotr Paszkowski: Most probably nobody survived the catastrophe. A critical headquarters is created.
11:20 – Spokesman for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Piotr Paszkowski: 88 passengers were on board.
11:26 – German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle says these are “tragic hours” for our neighbors.
11:57 – German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she is “deeply shocked” over the crash of the Polish president’s airplane.
12:00 – Royal Sigismund bell in Krakow tolls. It tolls only on special occasions, mostly religious and national holidays, and is regarded as one of Poland’s national symbols.
12:03 – At the martial cemetery in Katyn, Russia, a special mass ends for the victims of the airplane crash.
12:11 – Public events are canceled in Poland.
12:18 – General Prosecutor of Russia Jurij Czajka says he will personally supervise the investigation into the plane crash.
12:22 – Polish Army Chief Prosecutor Colonel Krzysztof Parulski sets off for Smolensk.
12:36 – Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Premier Vladimir Putin send condolences.
12:40 – Verification of victims and checking the list of passengers continues.
12:46 – ITAR-TASS: It is reported that the crew of the airplane were being informed by Belarus flight controllers about bad weather conditions and were advised to land in Moscow or Minsk in Belarus.
12:53 – People in Moscow lay flowers in the front of Polish Embassy.
12:57 – With the deaths of the chief of the Polish Army General Headquarters and commanders of various army divisions in Poland, their first deputies take over their duties.
13:03 – Polish Premier Donald Tusk talks to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Premier Vladimir Putin.
13:15 – The first black box is found.
13:19 – Russian President Medvedev promises tight cooperation with Poles in the investigation.
13:40 – The speaker of Poland’s Sejm, now acting president, declares one week of national mourning.
13:43 – The Polish Government Security Center presents the list of passengers.
13:57 – A hotline in Polish and Russian is created.
14:01 – The primate of the Polish Church says of the catastrophe: The tragedy is akin to the terrible sacrifices of war.
14:07 – The final tournament of the European Volleyball Champions League in Lodz, Poland, is postponed to some time in the future.

14:20 – President of the European Commission Jose Barroso sends condolences to Poland.
14:20 – Polish Premier Donald Tusk: The world has not seen such a tragedy.
14:31 – High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union Catherine Margaret Ashton sends condolences to the Polish nation.
14:35 – Premier Vladimir Putin heads to Smolensk to meet Polish Premier Donald Tusk.
14:49 – Russian President Dmitri Medvedev calls the acting president to send his condolences.
14:57 – A special group is created on Facebook : “In memory of victims of the airplane crash on 10.04.10 at Smolensk.”
15:00 – The first coffins arrive at the airport in Smolensk.
15:06 – President Obama sends condolences, calling Polish Premier Donald Tusk.
15:32 – A mourning mass is held in Warsaw.
15:37 – Russian Ministry of Special Occurrences: 97 people died in the catastrophe.
15:37 – AFP reports that the second black box is found.
15:42 – Russian Consul in Warsaw Dmitri Niestierow: Victims’ relatives and reporters will receive Russian visas on the spot.
15:48 – Russian President Dmitri Medvedev declares April 12 a National Day of Mourning in Russia.
16:10 – RIA-Nowosti: The body of President Kaczynski is found.
16:32 – Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Siergiej Lawrow talks to Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski and declares that for Poles and victims’ family members all necessary help will be provided, including help with visiting the site of the tragedy.
16:41 – The American Jewish Committee sends condolences, underlining merits of President Kaczynski in bringing reconciliation between Poles and Jews.
16:47 – Law and Justice Party (PiS) spokesman: The PiS chairman and twin brother of the president, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, is on his way to Smolensk.
17:09 –Professor Bronislaw Mlodziejowski, an expert on forensic medicine: Identification of the bodies might take four to six weeks.
17:16 – All shopping centers and supermarkets in Poland are declared closed on Sunday.

17:17 – Deputy Chief of the Russian Air Force Aleksandr Aloszyn: The crew of the Polish delegation airplane several times did not obey the commands from the flight controller at Smolensk Airport.
17:20 –Queen Elisabeth II expresses deep sorrow over the death of the Polish president. Condolences are sent as well from Britain’s Prince Charles, the British premier, and the government of Ireland.
17:31 – European Union Flags in the front of European Commission are lowered to half-mast.
17:45 – Polish Premier Donald Tusk sets off for Smolensk.
18:11 – Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz: This is a new, painful page at this place of execution.
18:29 – Russian President Medvedev: The Russian people are sharing the pain of the Polish people.
18:30 – A book of condolences is placed in front of the Polish Parliament building.
18:54 – Russian Premier Vladimir Putin arrives at the site of the plane crash.
18:59 – Deputy Speaker of the Polish Senate Stefan Niesiolowski: On Tuesday, there will be a mourning session in the Polish Sejm and Senate.
19:18 – Spokesman for Prosecutor’s Office in Smolensk: The transportation of bodies to Moscow begins.
19:39 – Minister Szojgu: All bodies have been recovered.
19:42 – Premier Vladimir Putin: Everything must be done to explain as soon as possible the causes of the Polish president’s airplane crash.
20:02 – Polish prosecutors arrive in Smolensk. Polish Minister of Justice Krzysztof Kwiatkowski is on the way.
20:10 – Russian Minister of Health Tatiana Golikowax: The identification of victims will be done in Moscow.
20:30 – Message to the nation from speaker of the Sejm, Bronislaw Komorowski, now acting president: Poland is mourning. We suffered a terrible, painful loss. In the face of this tragedy, we are together. There’s no division of right wing and left wing.

20:42 – Lech Walesa, former President of Poland: Today, while on duty, outstanding representatives of Poland have died.
21:08 – Premier Donald Tusk arrives in Smolensk and meets with Russian Premier Vladimir Putin.
21:16 – The Brazilian government declares three official days of mourning for the catastrophe.
21:42 – A mourning mass is held in a Polish church in Rome, Italy.
21:40 – The premiers of Poland and Russia together put flowers on the site of the catastrophe. Tusk goes down on his knees. Putin, standing next to him, makes the sign of the cross.
21:47 – All corpses are transported to Moscow’s Domodedowo airport.
21:49 – Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people gather in the front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.
21:56 – Premier Donald Tusk and the president’s twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski arrive at Smolensk.
22:00 – Soccer players of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona honor the victims of the crash with two minutes of silence before their game.
22:16 – Chairman of the PiS Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the former president’s twin brother, identifies the bodies of the president and his wife Maria.
22:27 – President of Russia Vladimir Putin addresses the Polish nation: First of all, this is a tragedy for Poland and the Polish nation, but it is as well our tragedy. We feel great pain together with you and we experience this the same as you do. ... We are praying with you.
22:40 – The European Union designates Monday in Brussels as a Belgium day of mourning for the victims of the crash.
22:48 – The premiers of Poland and Russia take part in a teleconference with authorities in Moscow about preparation for the identification of bodies.
23:30 – In Paris, a mourning mass is held for the victims of the plane crash.
23:35 – The acting president sends his thanks to the people of Warsaw who have gathered on Pilsudski Square: So many people, probably everyone with different thoughts, different likings, but all gather together in the name of union.

Sunday, April 11

02:05 – Polish Government Information Center: Because of the plane crash, Premier Donald Tusk cancels his visits to Washington D.C. and Canada, scheduled to begin next week.
01:14 – Premier Donald Tusk lands back in Warsaw.
08:40 –Matwiej Ganapolski on Radio Moscow: Forgive us that another misfortune was brought to you by Russia.
08:41 – Russian Ministry of Special Situations: Over 800 people are working in Smolensk where the catastrophe took place.
09:08 – Russian and Polish specialists start to investigate the black boxes.
09:15 – Russia, RIA Nowosti: The body of President Lech Kaczynski will be transferred straight to Warsaw; other bodies will be examined in Moscow.
09:17 – National Russian Television declares it will broadcast the movie Katyn, by Andrzej Wajda, about the WWII massacre of Polish elite.
09:30 – Former Polish Premier Leszek Miller: I think the crew took a great risk and lost greatly.
09:45 – The royal Sigismund bell in Krakow tolls again.
10:10 – Polish Radio RMF FM: 24 bodies are tentatively identified
10:30 – It is announced that at 2 p.m. Warsaw time, coffins with the bodies of President Lech Kaczynski, former President-in-exile Ryszard Kaczorowski, and Krzysztof Putra will arrive at the Warsaw airport.
10:54 –The last probable words of President Kaczynski to the media are published: Only today can we realize how huge the loss was that was brought to Poland at that time.
11:01 – Minister of Justice Krzysztof Kwiatkowski: Most probably, the catastrophe was such that the president’s quarters on board suffered the least, so it made it easy to identify the body of President Kaczynski.
11:11 – At noon in Smolensk, the coffin of President Kaczynski is delivered.