Polish president's jet 'disintegrated' mid-air in 2010: Minister

Warsaw: The Polish government`s jet which crashed in 2010 in western Russia, killing the president along with a large number of high-ranking officials had "disintegrated" mid-air, Polish defence minister said on Thursday.

Speaking at a ceremony to announce a relaunch of an official investigation into the crash, Antoni Macierewicz appeared to contradict the previous inquiry`s findings that pilot error had led to the tragedy.

"(The state investigation committee) has ... had the full record of events with respect to the activity of the plane`s instruments, from the start to the plane`s disintegration mid-air, more or less 15-18 metres above the ground," Macierewicz said.