Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17)[a] was a scheduled international passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that crashed on 17 July 2014.[7] It is believed to have been shot down with a Buksurface-to-air missile.[8] The aircraft went down near Hrabove (area under military control of Donbass People's Militia) in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine about 40 km (25 mi) from the Ukraine–Russia border.[9] All 283 passengers and 15 crew on board the Boeing 777-200ER airliner died.[10][11][12] The crash occurred in the conflict zone of the ongoing Donbass insurgency, in the area controlled by pro-Russian rebel groups.
A Ukrainian Interior Ministry official, Anton Gerashchenko, said a Buk missile hit the aircraft at an altitude of 10,000 m (33,000 ft).[11] Ukrainian security services said they intercepted two phone conversations in which pro-Russian separatists discuss with Russian intelligence officers having just shot down a civilian plane. On 19 July, Vitaly Nayda, the chief of the Counter Intelligence Department of the SBU, told a news conference: "We have compelling evidence that this terrorist act was committed with the help of the Russian Federation. We know clearly that the crew of this system were Russian citizens."[9][13][14][15]
The separatists denied the recorded talks were related to the crash of MH17.[16] Alleged separatist conversations with Russian intelligence agents were also intercepted, in which rebels reportedly express satisfaction that they are in possession of a Buk missile system.[17] U.S. President Barack Obama, citing U.S. intelligence officials, said the plane was shot down by a missile and that there was "credible evidence" it was fired from a location held by pro-Russian rebels.[3][18][19]
The crash was the airline's second major incident of the year. Flight 370 (Boeing 777-200ER 9M-MRO) disappeared on 8 March en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. With 298 deaths, MH17 is the deadliest aviation incident since the September 11 attacks,[20] the deadliest air accident in Ukraine, the deadliest-ever Boeing 777 hull loss and the deadliest incident in Malaysia Airlines' history.[21]
Aircraft
Flight 17 was operated with a Boeing 777-2H6ER,[b] serial number 28411, registration 9M-MRD. The 84th Boeing 777 produced, it first flew on 17 July 1997, exactly 17 years before the incident, and was delivered new to Malaysia Airlines on 29 July 1997.[22] Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines and configured to carry 282 passengers (35 business and 248 economy), the aircraft had logged more than 43,000 hours of flight time, including 6,950 cycles, before the crash.[22][23]
The Boeing 777 entered commercial service on 7 June 1995; as of June 2014, there were approximately 1,200 aircraft in service with some 340 unfilled orders.[24] Aviation experts say the model has one of the best safety records in commercial aircraft. Only four other 777s have suffered a hull loss: British AirwaysFlight 38 in January 2008; a cockpit fire in a parked EgyptAir 777-200 at Cairo International Airport in 2011; and Asiana AirlinesFlight 214 in July 2013, in which three people died. Another Malaysia Airlines 777, Flight 370 (registration 9M-MRO), went missing on 8 March 2014 and was still being searched for at the time of Flight 17's crash.
All 283 passengers and 15 Malaysian crew died.[36][37][38] Over two-thirds of the passengers were from the Netherlands. Authorities initially said there were 295 people on board, having not accounted for three infants.[39][40] By 19 July, the airline had officially determined the nationalities of all 298 passengers and crew.[25] The nationalities are noted in the table to the right. The nationalities released by the airline are noted in the second column, while the third column indicates people that had citizenship in a certain country but were officially assigned another nationality due to dual citizenship.
A Ukrainian An-26, similar to one shot down on 14 July 2014
3 March 2014: Korean Air and Asiana Airlines "stopped flying over Ukraine airspace ... because of security concerns."[49] Aeroflot, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and others would continue overflying eastern Ukraine until after MH17 was shot down.[50]
April 2014: The International Civil Aviation Organization warned governments that there was "the possible existence of serious risks to the safety of international civil flights" over Ukraine. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued restrictions on flights over Crimea just south of MH17's route, and advised airlines flying over the rest of Ukraine to "exercise extreme caution due to the continuing potential for instability."[51][52]
29 June 2014: NTV reported that separatists had access to a Buk after taking control of a Ukrainian air defence base A-1402[53][54] (possibly the former location of the 156th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (156 zrp), Ukrainian Air Force). On the same day, the Donetsk People's Republic claimed possession of such a system in a since-deleted tweet.[55]
1 July 2014: Ukrainian officials advised pilots to not fly below 26,000 feet (7,900 m) over eastern Ukraine.[56]
13 July 2014: Sergey Kurginyan declared that Buk launchers taken over from Ukrainian army were going to be fixed soon by specialists from Russia.[57]
14 July 2014: An unconfirmed phone call took place between Oleh Valeriyovych Bugrov (Army Chief of Staff and Deputy Minister of Defence of self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic) and an officer of Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Federation where the officer said "Now we have (radar-guided surface-to-air) Buk (missile system), we shall bring them (planes) down."[58]
14 July 2014: A Ukrainian military An-26 transport aircraft flying at 21,000 feet (6,400 m) was shot down.[59] (confirmed to be shot using Buk).[60] U.S. officials would later say evidence suggested the aircraft had been fired on from inside Russian territory.[61]
14 July 2014: Ukrainian officials advised pilots to not fly below 32,000 feet (9,800 m) over eastern Ukraine.[56]
15 July 2014: Following his visit to Kiev, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski warned about the dangers posed by the continued Russian military support for pro-Russian separatists, especially ground-to-air missiles. "These are mobile rockets whose sale is governed by international rules and they are forbidden from being supplied to non-state groups, because that creates the possibility of the proliferation of these kinds of weapons, which creates a danger to civil aviation around the world," he said.[62]
16 July 2014: A Ukrainian military Sukhoi Su-25close air support aircraft was shot down, and Ukrainian government officials accused the Russian military of downing the aircraft with an air-to-air missile fired by a MiG-29 jet in Russia, while a spokesman for Russia's Defence Ministry rejected those accusations as absurd.[58][63][64]
17 July 2014: Russia closed more than a dozen airways at various altitudes.[65]
17 July 2014: An unnamed Associated Press journalist saw a Buk launcher in Snizhne, a town in the Donetsk Oblast, approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) southeast of the crash site. The reporter also saw seven rebel tanks at a filling station near the town.[66]
17 July 2014: An unconfirmed phone call between Sergei Nikolaevich Petrovskiy (officer of Main Intelligence Directorate of Russian Federation, Deputy Chief of Igor Girkin on Intelligence) and a militant took place where they discussed where to unload and place the Buk missile system.[58]
According to Malaysia Airlines, MH17 filed a flight plan requesting to fly at 35,000 feet throughout Ukrainian airspace, but "upon entering Ukrainian airspace, MH17 was instructed by Ukrainian air traffic control to fly at 33,000 feet".[68]
The plane crashed near the village of Hrabove just north of Torez, a city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, as it was approaching the Russian border.[9] The moment at which a fireball rose due to the impact was captured on a video clip.[71]
Photographs from the site of the crash show scattered pieces of broken fuselage and engine parts, as well as bodies and passports.[73][74] Some of the wreckage fell close to houses in Hrabove.[75] Dozens of bodies fell into crop fields, some into houses.[76]
On the evening of 17 July, the lifenews.ru portal released the following statement "On July 17 near the village of Rassypnoye over the Torez city in Donetsk region an An-26 transport plane of Ukrainian Air Force was taken down, said the militia. According to them, the plane crashed somewhere near the "Progress" mine, away from residential areas. According to one of the militias, at approximately 17:30 local time an An-26 flew over the city. It was hit by a rocket, there was an explosion and the plane went to the ground, leaving a black smoke. Debris fell from the sky".[77]ITAR-TASS and RIA Novosti had also reported that an An-26 had been shot down by the militia near Torez at around 16:00 local time.[78][79] U.S. analysis of the launch plume and trajectory suggested the missile was fired from an area between Torez and Snizhne.[61]
Aftermath
Off-duty coal miners, along with local police and rescue crews, combed through debris searching for any survivors.[80]
As a result of the incident, Ukraine closed all routes in the Eastern Ukraine airspace, at all altitudes.[81] The airspace above Donetsk Oblast had been previously closed by Ukraine on 1 July 2014 below 26,000 feet (7,900 m), and on 14 July 2014 below 32,000 feet (9,800 m).[82]Eurocontrol issued a statement in which it explained that at the time of the crash the MH17 was at Flight Level 330 (33,000 feet or 10,060 metres), so the aircraft was above restricted airspace.[81] A few airlines, such as Qantas, Korean Air Lines, and British Airways, had already been avoiding the area for a number of months because of security concerns.[49][82] Airlines including Aeroflot, Transaero, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, and S7 Airlines announced their intention to make flights bypass Ukraine airspace.[83] The routes in Russian air space, where MH17 would continue had it not crashed, were closed by Russian air control up to 32,000 feet (9,800 m) just a few hours before the crash (but remained open in higher altitudes).[84]
On 18 July a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman reported to journalists that "Russian radar facilities during 17 July detected work of 9S18 "Kupol" (radar station of detection and targeting for 9K37-1 SAM "Buk-M1" squadron), stationed near Ukrainian-controlled village Styla (30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Donetsk)"[85]
Ukraine's foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin stated that Ukraine did not have sophisticated surface-to-air missile systems in the area, and that none had been seized by separatist groups in recent weeks.[86]
Shortly after the crash, it was announced that Malaysia Airlines would change the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur route flight number to 19.[87] By 18 July 2014, shares in Malaysia Airlines had dropped by nearly 16%[88]
International media has reported that credit and debit cards may have been looted from the bodies of the victims, and the Dutch Banking Association reported to have taken necessary actions to prevent abuse.[89]
Investigation
On the day of the crash, a meeting was convened in the Trilateral Contact Group (consisting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Ukrainian national government, and Russia). After they had held a video conference with representatives of the Novorossiya rebels (who control the area where the plane crashed), the rebels promised to "provide safe access and security guarantees" to "the national investigation commission" by cooperating with Ukrainian authorities and OSCE monitors.[90] However, on 18 July the militants denied the OSCE team free access to the crash site. After spending only 75 minutes at the site, the team returned to Donetsk.[91]
During first two days of investigation, on 18 and 19 July, the militants prevented OSCE and other international observers from freely working at the crash site. According to Ukrainian government, the separatists are destroying all evidence of the crime "with the help of Russia", including moving 38 bodies to Donetsk. [92].
A Ukrainian-led international investigation will examine how the plane came to crash. The United Kingdom is sending six investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch to assist.[93] The UK Foreign Office has sent extra consular staff to Ukraine and the Metropolitan Police is liaising with international partners to send specialist officers to the country to assist with the recovery, identification and repatriation of those who died.[93]
A senior U.S. administration official said to ABC News that FBI and NTSB officials are poised to head to Ukraine in an "advisory role" in the investigation.[94]
On 18 July it was reported that the Flight Data Recorder was in the hands of the separatists. But this claim was denied by separatist leader Alexsander Borodai.[95]
On 18 July, the head of Donetsk Regional State Administration, Kostiantyn Batozky, stated, "Two black boxes have been founded [sic] by our emergency teams. I don't have any information as to where these boxes are at the moment".[96]
Cause
Although no final conclusion has been reached pending the investigation, both US and Ukrainian officials list a surface-to-air missile as the most likely cause of the crash. [97] If the missile caused the crash, this is most likely a BUK system missile, as BUK is the only surface-to-air missile installation in the area capable of reaching the altitude of commercial air traffic.[98]
Recovery of casualties
On 19 July 2014 Andriy Lysenko, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Council for National Security and Defense announced to press that the terrorists removed 38 bodies from the crash site in order to extract from the bodies exploded parts of the rocket used to shoot the plane and destroy the evidence.[99]
A Ukraine Foreign Ministry representative said that the bodies found at the crash site will be taken to Kharkiv for identification, a city 270 kilometres to the north. 181 bodies had been found as of 18 July.[100]
Al Jazeera reported that the separatist Minister of Health had initially confirmed 38 bodies had been moved to the Donetsk morgue, which the minister subsequently recanted. [101] Bodies were observed being moved, placed in bodybags, and loaded on to trucks. [102][103][104]
On 19 July, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte commented that he was disgusted by the lack of respect shown to the personal belongings and shocked about the lack of respect for the bodies of the casualties; it had been reported that bodies were being "dragged around" and "thrown" while the victims' possessions were looted.[105]
After the crash, Ukraine immediately blamed the separatists, while Russia blamed Ukraine for failing to agree to a cease fire, and has gone on to suggest that a Ukrainian anti-aircraft battery shot down the aircraft.
The Ukrainian case
Map of the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17[106]
Extent of territory held by pro-Russian insurgents
Ukraine's claim that pro-Russian separatists shot down the aircraft using a BUK missile launcher is based upon an alleged set of phone intercepts that were released in a YouTube video shortly after the crash, in which the voices of two alleged pro-Russian separatists are heard discussing the shooting down of a plane.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) published what they said were wiretaps of separatist commanders reporting that a civilian airliner had been shot down.[107][108][109] According to one of the recordings, Flight 17 was shot down by a group of pro-Russian separatists manning a checkpoint near the village of Chornukhine, Luhansk Oblast, some 80 km (50 mi) northeast of Donetsk.[110] Ukrainian authorities said another recording indicated that the weapons system had arrived from Russia with a Russian crew.[111]
Multiple sources cited a post on the VKontaktesocial networking service that was attributed to Igor Girkin, also known as "Strelkov", commander of the pro-Russian Donbass People's Militia, in which he acknowledged shooting down an aircraft at approximately the same time that the flight was reported to have crashed in eastern Ukraine in the same area near the Russian border.[11][112][113][114] The post specifically referenced how warnings were issued for planes not to fly in their airspace and the downing of an Antonov An-26 which Ukraine Crisis Media Center suggested was a case of misidentification with MH17.[113][114] The post was deleted later in the day, and the account behind it said that Igor Girkin had no official account on that social network.[115][116][117] It is unclear whether Strelkov had actual knowledge of a BUK battery firing a missile, or whether he and his men saw the crash and simply assumed that their forces had downed another Ukrainian military aircraft and took public credit for it.
While the separatists have successfully downed several aircraft using shoulder launched missiles (MANPADS) in the past few months, all of these were military aircraft operating at low altitude. MANPADS are limited to 3 km in range and altitude and are thus incapable of downing an airliner flying at 30,000 feet at Mach 0.8 cruise speed.
Both Russia and Ukraine use the Russian-made BUK anti-aircraft missile battery. Russia uses the M3 version, and Ukraine fields the much older M1 version.
Ukrainian interior ministry official Anton Gerashchenko stated that the airliner was "shot down with a surface-to-air missile by terrorists", referring to militants seeking to unite eastern Ukraine with Russia.[11] Later the Ukrainian President stated that Ukrainian authorities "don't exclude" the possibility that the plane was shot down.[9] This was denied by the rebels, stating that they have no weapons capable of shooting down planes at the altitude at which the Malaysian airliner was flying.[9] Previously, on 29 June 2014, the pro-Russian rebels of the Donetsk People's Republic had boasted of having captured a Buk missile battery from the Ukrainian army and posted a picture of it on Twitter. The Twitter post was deleted by the rebels after the Malaysian aircraft had been shot down.[118]
An article published by Military.com lists four Russian surface-to-air missile systems that could have shot down the Malaysian jet.[119]
A defence expert later reported that to shoot down an aircraft at this altitude would require a long-range surface-to-air missile, possibly assisted by radar, or an air-to-air missile from another aircraft.[120] After the MH17 crash, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic officials said on numerous occasions that they "do not have access to weapons able to reach airplane at 10 km".[121] Just before the MH17 crash, self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic officials reported having access to a Buk missile system that can fire missiles up to 22,000 metres (72,000 ft), and uses radar guidance for targeting. On 18 July, a Ukrainian newspaper said that a column of three tanks, two BTR vehicles and a Buk transported on a lorry was photographed near Dmitrovka village.[122]
A Ukrainian military An-26 cargo plane was shot down on 14 July near the Russian border at an altitude of 21,000 feet, well above the range of MANPAD missiles.[citation needed]
Ukraine has now released footage of a BUK battery alleged to be operating in the Donetsk suburb of Torez, and being transported toward Russia while missing one of its missiles on the day following the crash.[123]
The separatist leadership have repeatedly denied having any anti-aircraft missile batteries capable of reaching an airliner at cruise altitude, and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has repeatedly dismissed suggestions that Moscow was involved in the alleged strike.[123][124]
Furthermore, Ukraine's prosecutor general, Vitaliy Yarema, confirmed that according to Ukrainian military sources, “After the passenger airliner was downed, the military reported to the president that terrorists do not have our air defense missile systems Buk and S-300.” [125]
As some had begun to look to Russia as the suspect, the Russian Defence Ministry declared that at the time of the crash "anti-aircraft units of Russian Federation did not operate in that area".[126][127]
Russian officials and media have stated or implied that the Ukranian military shot down flight MH-17 using either a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile battery or an air-to-air missile fired by a Su-27 fighter jet.[citation needed]
The Russian case relies on eye witness testimony of people who saw the aircraft in the company of two Ukrainian fighter jets shortly before it crashed, including one witness who said that one of the jets fired upon the airliner.[citation needed]
Russia's Deputy Defence Minister, Anatoly Antonov, has asked for Ukraine's comment on the tweets of a Spanish national "Carlos" allegedly working for the air traffic control tower of Kiev's Borispol airport, and present at the time of the crash: "Can official Kiev comment on reports in the social media, allegedly by a Spanish air traffic controller who works in Ukraine, that there were two Ukrainian military planes flying alongside the Boeing 777 over Ukrainian territory?" [130]
Antonov was referring to the tweets from a now-deleted Twitter account, @spainbuca,[131] which stated that two Ukrainian fighter jets accompanied flight MH-17 until three minutes before it disappeared from radar. The tweet said "Military commanders here (ATC) control tower, confirm that the missile is from the Ukranian army." Another set of tweets later explained that the order to shoot down the flight came from Minister of the Interior rather than from the military, and that military personnel later took over the control center and confiscated the radar records.[132][unreliable source?] Attempts to verify the identity of "Carlos" with the Spanish Embassy in Ukraine have allegedly failed.[133][unreliable source?]
There was a 8 May video interview with "Carlos" of the same Twitter account in the Spanish edition of RT.com. He claimed to have worked in air traffic in Ukraine for five years prior to Euromaidan, and complained of death threats made to him and his family after the February coup which brought the new regime into power.[134]
On the ground near Lugansk, one witness claimed to have seen a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet fire on the airliner just before it exploded and crashed. Other witnesses reported seeing or hearing one or two SU-27 fighter jets around the time of the crash. This would corroborate the statement of "Carlos" that two fighters were following flight MH17.
DPR representatives reported seeing that a military An-26 transport aircraft was hit,[77] while others stated they had no missiles that could reach 10 km altitude and hit an airliner;[121]LPR representatives said that they had witnessed a Ukrainian aircraft, identified as a Su-25, shoot down the Boeing.[135] Gazeta.ru pointed out that both sides of the conflict, Ukraine and DPR, have Buk missiles capable of reaching 10 km altitude, but that the service ceiling at 5 km of Su-25 aircraft make it impossible for it to shoot down a high altitude airliner.[136]
The Russian Defence Ministry has stated that Ukraine deployed a battery of 27 BUK-M1 missile systems near Donetsk.[137]
Jane's Defence Weekly and Defense24.pl stated in their analyses that a Buk missile launcher vehicle without well trained crew or without its support vehicles (command vehicle and acquisition radar vehicle) would have been unable to tell a civilian Boeing 777 from a military AN-26 aircraft, but would still be able to hit it.[139][140] Kevin Ryan, director of the Defense and Intelligence Project at Harvard University, said that without extensive training crews would be unable to hit anything at all, and concludes that if the plane really was shot down, a professional military force was responsible.[141] General Philip Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned in June that the Russian government had been training pro-Russian separatists inside Russia to have an "anti-aircraft capability", and, in answer to a question on whether he meant MANPADS training, he noted “we have seen vehicle-borne capability being trained.”[142] A CNN military expert speculated that the type of weaponry that could have taken down the airliner would have been available to Russians on the other side of the Ukrainian border.[141]
According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. agencies are divided over whether the plane was downed by the Russian military or by pro-Russian separatists, who may lack the expertise required. They still insist that "[a]ll roads lead to the Russians to some degree". It was also mentioned, that an US satellite localized the infrared signature of a ground (surface) based missile launch just before the Boeing was shot.[138]
On 18 July 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a White House briefing that the missile was fired from a territory controlled by Russian-supported separatists.[143][144]
Malaysia – Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said that the foreign ministry would be working closely with the Russian and Ukrainian governments with regard to the incident.[145] Prime Minister Najib Razak later said on his statement that "At this stage, however, Malaysia is unable to verify the cause of this tragedy. But we must, and we will, find out precisely what happened to this flight. No stone will be left unturned." He also added "If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice".[146] The Malaysian government has declared to fly the country national flag at half-mast from 18 July until 21 July.[147]
Netherlands – Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and King Willem-Alexander voiced their shock at the crash.[148][149] Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans will join the Dutch investigation team sent to Ukraine.[150] Dutch government buildings flew the flag at half-mast on 18 July.[151] Music was cancelled and festivities were toned down during the last, usually festive, day of the Nijmegen Marches.[152]
Russia – Russian President Vladimir Putin said responsibility for the crash rests with "the country in whose airspace the plane was in when it crashed", and that "the disaster wouldn't happen if the military action in south-east of Ukraine was not reenabled".[9][153][154] On 19 July Russian Ministry of Defence announced "10 questions to the Ukrainian government", repeating accusations earlier published in Russian media.[155] Russian citizens brought flowers to the Dutch embassy in Moscow. Some left notes in English: "We are very sorry! What a terrible shame!"[156]
Novorossiya – Pro-Russian rebel commander Igor Girkin was quoted as stating that "a significant number of the bodies weren't fresh", although he stated that he could not confirm the information. He followed up by saying "Ukrainian authorities are capable of any baseness"; Girkin also said that blood serum and medications were found in the plane's remnants in large quantities.[157][158]
Ukraine – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko vowed support for a Dutch probe into the crash, which he called an act of terrorism. He offered condolences for the air disaster in a telephone conversation with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.[159] Ukrainian citizens brought flowers to the Dutch and Malaysian embassies in Kiev in support.[160][161]
European Union – The European Union representatives José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy released a joint statement calling for immediate and thorough investigation.[162] The EU officials also said that Ukraine has first claim on the plane's black boxes.[163]
Australia – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that the aircraft was downed by a missile which seems to have been launched by Russian-backed rebels.[164] Moreover, the Australian foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop said in an interview on an Australian TV program that it was "extraordinary" that her Russian counterparts have refused to speak to her over the fatal downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane.[164] The Russian government was critical of the Australian response, branding the Prime Minister's comments as "inappropriate" and an "accusation of guilt based on speculation".[165]
Indonesia – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked that whoever shot down the aircraft be punished unequivocally, and offered to help with the investigation.[167]
Ireland – The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement, "Ireland fully supports calls for a full, independent international investigation to establish the cause of this grave tragedy and to ensure that those responsible are swiftly brought to justice."[168]
Romania – Romanian President Traian Băsescu declared himself "appalled" by the tragic event that occurred in Ukraine's airspace and asked for immediate clarification of the circumstances in which the plane crash occurred. He said EU experts should participate in the investigation along with Ukrainian authorities.[169]
United States – U.S. President Barack Obama discusses the crash with President Petro Poroshenko on the phone while on Air Force One. U.S. President Barack Obama said, the U.S. would help determine the cause.[9] In a press statement, White House spokesman Josh Earnest called for an immediate ceasefire.[174] Vice President Joe Biden said the plane appeared to have been deliberately shot down, and vowed U.S. assistance for the investigation into the crash.[154]U.S. Ambassador to the United NationsSamantha Power stated that the flight "was likely downed by a surface-to-air missile, an SA-11, operated from a separatist-held location in eastern Ukraine," that the U.S. could not "rule out technical assistance by Russian personnel" in operating the system, and that "Russia must end this war."[3]
United Nations – The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting on Ukraine crisis. A British-drafted statement calling for "a full, thorough and independent international investigation" into what caused the crash and stressing the need for "all parties to grant immediate access by investigators to the crash site to determine the cause of the incident" was discussed.[175]
United Nations – UNAIDS stated inter alia "It seems that some of the finest academics, health-care workers and activists in the AIDS response may have perished while travelling to take part in the international gathering of experts and advocates...The UNAIDS family is in deep shock. Our hearts go out to the families of all the victims of this tragic crash. The deaths of so many committed people working against HIV will be a great loss for the AIDS response.”[176]
NATO – NATO said this incident highlighted the fact that the conflict in that area was becoming more dangerous.[177] NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen stated, "I am profoundly shocked and saddened by the crash of a Malaysia Airlines passenger aircraft in Ukraine today, with the loss of many lives." After offering his condolences to those affected, he added, "It is important that a full international investigation should be launched immediately, without any hindrance, to establish the facts and that those who may be responsible are swiftly brought to justice."[178]
ICAO declared that it's sending its team of experts to assist Ukrainian National Bureau of Incidents and Accidents Investigation of Civil Aircraft (NBAAII), which according to ICAO is the country in charge of the investigation under Article 26 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.[179]
Media coverage
Russian media took President Vladimir Putin's line that Ukraine was responsible because of its military actions. Initially, the Kremlin-backed outlet[180]RT (Russia Today) claimed that the plane was shot down by Ukrainians in a failed assassination attempt on Putin, in a plot which was organized by Ukraine's "Western backers".[181] Sara Firth, a correspondent with RT, for which she had worked for over the previous five years, quit in protest at the channel's coverage which she described as "shockingly obvious misinformation." RT issued a statement after Firth went public with reasons for her resignation saying, "In our coverage, RT, unlike the rest of the media, did not draw conclusions before the official investigation has even begun. We show all sides of the story, even if everyone else has already decided which side is to blame."[182]
On 18 July The Daily Telegraph reported that the Russian government had allegedly modified or deleted information on Wikipedia pages relating to the MH17 incident, to remove claims that it helped provide the missile system used to shoot down the aircraft. Among the pages edited was the Russian version of an article listing civil aviation incidents, to claim that "the plane [flight MH17] was shot down by Ukrainian soldiers".[183]
^The aircraft is a Boeing 777-200ER (for Extended Range) model; Boeing assigns a unique customer code for each company that buys one of its aircraft, which is applied as an infix in the model number at the time the aircraft is built. The code for Malaysia Airlines is "H6", hence "777-2H6ER".
^A total of 36 Australians died in the explosions, 27 of whom were citizens, 8 who were permanent residents and 1 who was a dual-Dutch citizen.[26]
^Speaking on "Buk" (from 3:30): "I believe that our talented electronicians have already fixed the Buk launchers taken from Ukrainian Bandera bandits. As far as I know the genius electronicians that flew over as representatives of citizen community in Russia to support brother nation, they are already fixed or will be fixed very soon. And for that reason I do not recommend that Kiev repeats the air bombing tricks they did in Lugansk. That story is over! I also know that they have fixed a Su bomber so DPR will soon have their own aviation". Sergey Kurginyan (13 July 2014). "С.Е.Кургинян. Доклад на летней школе о ситуации в ДНР". ECC.TV. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
^ ab"Ополченцы сообщили о сбитом Ан-26 на востоке Украины" (in Russian). 17 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014. On July 17 near the village of Rassypnoye over the Torez city in Donetsk region an An-26 transport plane of Ukrainian Air Force was taken down, said the militia. According to them, the plane crashed somewhere near the "Progress" mine, away from residential areas. According to one of the militias, at approximately 17:30 local time an An-26 flew over the city. It was hit by a rocket, there was an explosion and the plane went to the ground, leaving a black smoke. Debris fell from the sky
^"Путин: за авиакатастрофу несет ответственность Украина" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014. "Безусловно, государство, над территорией которого это произошло, несет ответственность за эту страшную трагедию", — сказал глава РФ{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)