Report Show Russian Missile Brought Down Flight MH17

The final report of the Dutch Safety Board on the crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 indicated that a Russian-made Buk missile brought down the aircraft while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board Flight MH17 were killed in the July 2014 crash.

However, the findings of the DSB did not indicate the parties or groups responsible for launching the missile. The aircraft was shot down while a war between the government of Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine was ongoing. The rebels were blamed by Western governments for the crash.

Tjibbe Joustra, head of the Safety Board, said a 9N314M warhead exploded just outside the cockpit of the aircraft. The warhead is similar to the ones installed on the Buk missile system.

However, Russia did not agree on the part indicating that a Buk missile system shot down Flight MH17. Sergei Ryabkov, Russian deputy foreign minister, said the report was an obvious attempt at drawing a prejudiced conclusion as well as implement political orders.

Simulations showed the trajectory of the missile, which indicated that the missile came from an area controlled by the rebels. However, the manufacturers of the missile system said the Buk could not have been used in shooting down the aircraft from territory controlled by the rebels.

While accountability was not indicated on the report, it is expected to strain diplomatic relations between Russia and the Netherlands.

Full cooperation from Russia was encouraged by Prime Minister Mark Rutte on a criminal investigation led by the Netherlands. Australia, Belgium, Ukraine, and Malaysia are already participating in the investigation. The report was described as an important milestone in holding the parties responsible for the incident accountable by the White House.

Report Show Russian Missile Brought Down Flight MH17 - image credit: telegraph.co.uk

Ned Price, spokesman for the National Security Council, said their evaluation that a surface-to-air missile launched from rebel-controlled territory shot down flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine remained unchanged. The report also strengthened calls within the industry for a review on the sharing of information about conflict-stricken areas.

The airspace over the conflict-stricken area should have been closed by Ukraine and the potential danger should have been recognized by all airlines that continued to fly over the area. The board recommended changes on international aviation rules to compel airlines to make their route choices more transparent. But, Ukrainian authorities followed standard procedures, according to Hennadiy Zubko. Zubko led a separate investigation by Ukraine.

He said Ukraine closed the airspace below 32,000 feet or 9,750 miles as indicated on the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization. BALPA, the union of British pilots, called on airlines and countries to provide accurate information on the safe places to fly. BALPA flight specialist Stephen Landells said a standardized level of safety is required by pilots and passengers and it should not be secretly decided in various ways by operators and countries. The report of the safety board showed that the warhead exploded along the left side of the flight cabin of flight MH17, sending shrapnel into the aircraft.

Three crew members were instantly killed by the explosion, which caused the aircraft to break up. The first to get separated was the nose followed by a part of the rear fuselage and the tail. Fragments of the shrapnel showed it was a Buk missile. Victims included nationals from Australia, Britain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Belgium, Germany, Canada, the Philippines, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Western governments and expert pointed at the rebels as the ones who fired the missile at flight MH17 after they mistook it for a Ukrainian military transport plane.

Rutte said a separate criminal investigation affected the relationship between the Netherlands and Russia. He said they are appealing to Russian authorities to abide by the findings of the report. Rutte added that they should exert effort in ensuring the people behind the tragedy will be brought to justice.

Joustra said sudden decompression and lack of oxygen would have rendered passengers, who survived the impact of the missile, unconscious. The report also showed that the passengers of the aircraft would not have realized the gravity of the situation when the missile hit the aircraft and everyone on board flight MH17 died when the aircraft hit the ground.

Posted by George Daniels on Wednesday October 14 2015, 11:29 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0