Malaysia Airlines MH17 Crash - Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur shot down on over eastern Ukraine.

On 17th July 2014 Malaysia Airline’s MH17, a Boeing 777-200 was on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. MH 17 took off from the Schiphol airport at 10.31 UTC. There were 298 souls on board which included 283 passengers, 4 flight crews & 11 cabin crews. After take–off it climbed to 25,000 feet and flew eastwards over Germany, Poland & Ukraine. During that period a violent fight was underway at the east of Ukraine between the government (Ukrainian) forces and militia groups supported by Russia. Due to the situation there, a NOTAM was in place issued by Russia & Ukraine authorities restricting access to parts of their airspace up to a flight level of 32,000 feet. At the time of the crash, the aeroplane was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet in the unrestricted airspace in the eastern part of Ukraine. Last radio transmission made by MH17 began at 13.19:56 and ended at 13.19:59. No distress message was received by the ATC from MH17. At 13.20:03 the aeroplane disappeared from the radar and crashed. A Joint Investigation Team, comprising the authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine was setup and went in to the investigation. The aeroplane was hit by a Buk surface-to-air missile. As a result of the impact and pressure wave and also due to the multiple fatal injuries associated with the impact of metal fragments moving at high velocity, all the flight crews were killed instantly. As the result of the detonation, the forward section of the fuselage broke-off in the air. The wreckage of flt MH17 over a large area also indicates that it was an in-flight break-up. The pattern of damage in the forward fuselage and the cockpit area indicates that the damage was from a large number of high energy objects that perforated the aeroplane from outside. Because of the nature of damage it was evident that a weapon system has caused it. All the 298 people on board lost their lives. JIT after considering various weapons finally came to the conclusion that the aeroplane was downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist controlled area in Ukraine. The Buk missile system was present in the region and is capable of hitting targets at altitudes up to 70,000 to 80,000 feet. It was also reported that hours after the passenger plane was shot down, the Buk was seen being driven back towards the Russian border. Shortly after the plane disappeared, a post on social media attributed to a Russian army veteran and separatist leader, claimed that the rebels had shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane. It is very evident that the rebels mistook MH17 for a military transport aircraft and shot it down. The crash of MH17 raises the issue of flights over conflict areas. The Dutch Safety Board in its report on the MH17 crash stated the following. “ In this world armed conflicts are ongoing between governments on one side and one or more non-governmental groups on the other. As a rule, such conflicts are more disorderly and less predictable than traditional war between states. The existence and spread of advanced weapon system means that the parties involved in these conflicts may process these types of weapon systems and therefore are able to hit targets at great distance and altitudes. The aviation sector should take urgent measures to identify, asses and manage risks associate with flying over conflict zones more effectively.” In practice states involved in armed conflicts seldom closes their airspace and hence these type of catastrophes takes place. If a particular airspace is not closed or restricted, and the state in which the operated is based has not issued an over flight prohibition or restriction that applies to this particular airspace, it is the operator that decides whether to use that airspace or not. This means that the operator have a responsibility to determine whether a flight route is safe enough to be used. Malaysia Airlines assumed that the unrestricted airspace over Ukraine was safe. Not only Malaysia Airlines but almost all airlines that used routes over the conflict zone continued to do so during the period. This includes major airless like Air India, Emirates, Singapore Airlines etc. On the day of the crash alone, 160 flights were flown above the eastern part of Ukraine until the airspace was closed. Safety of airspace is the responsibility of the state. However when a state is involved in an armed conflict in its territory, this state may experience difficulty in guaranteeing the safety of its airspace. The Dutch Safety Board is the opinion that a stricter redefinition of the responsibility of states for their airspace, and a stronger, more active role for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in this matter. Courtesy Dutch Safety Board Report #Malaysia Airlines MH17 Crash #AeroplaneShotDown #MalaysianAirlines