A Russian investigation into the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski blamed the Poles, saying the crew was forced to land in bad weather by an air force commander who had been drinking.

NON-CREW members were in the cockpit of the plane of Polish president Lech Kaczynski before its fatal crash in Russia, officials said yesterday, raising fresh questions about the tragedy’s cause.

The death of Poland’s president and many elite figures in Saturday’s plane crash in Russia rekindled memories of the wartime Katyn massacre.