On Saturday 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154M of the Polish 36th Special Aviation Regiment crashed next to Smolensk-North Airport, just outside Smolensk near Pechyorsk, Smolensk Oblast, Russia, killing all 96 aboard, as well as President Lech Kaczyński.

Information about the cause of the crash is still unverified. News agencies statement says that the pilot attempted four times to land in heavy fog, ignoring the guidance of the ground control to divert to a safer airport, either in Minsk or Moscow.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that the bodies of all of the victims would be flown to Moscow for identification.

Polish and Russian authorities confirmed that all 96 people on the aircraft died in the mishap. It was among the most awful disasters in Polish record by death-toll, and at the time it was the most deadly aircraft crash in 2010.

The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.