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MH17 Crash |
I will post information about the MH17 Crash on July 17, 2014 from Wikipedia and other links.
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9M-MRD, the aircraft shot down, photographed in October 2011 |
Shootdown summary | |
Date | 17 July 2014 |
Summary | |
Site | Near Hrabove, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine 48°8′17″N38°38′20″ECoordinates: 48°8′17″N38°38′20″E |
Passengers | 283 |
Crew | 15 |
Fatalities | 298 |
Survivors | 0 |
Aircraft type | |
Operator | |
9M-MRD | |
Flight origin | |
Destination | |
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that crashed on 17 July 2014 after being shot down, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. The Boeing 777-200ERairliner lost contact about 50 km (31 mi) from the Ukraine–Russia border and crashed near Torez in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40 km (25 mi) from the border.
The crash occurred during the Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion, part of the ongoing war in Donbass, in an area controlled by the Donbass People's Militia. According to American and German intelligence sources, the plane was shot down by pro-Russian insurgents using a Buksurface-to-air missile fired from the territory which they controlled. The Russian government blamed the Ukrainian government. The Dutch Safety Boardis currently leading an investigation into the incident and issued a preliminary report on 9 September 2014; a final accident report is expected in October 2015.
A Bellingcat analysis of open-source evidence indicated that Russian-backed separatists were in control of a Buk missile launcher on 17 July and transported it from Donetsk to Snizhne while three eyewitnesses told the BBC that such a missile launcher was operated by a crew that seemed to be Russian in the area on that date. US sources attributed the downing to a missile fired from separatist-controlled territory, with their judgement based on sensors that traced the path of the missile, analysis of shrapnel patterns in the wreckage, voice print analysis of separatists' conversations in which they claimed credit for the strike, as well as photos and other data from social media sites.
Immediately after the crash, a post appeared on the VKontakte social media profile attributed to Russian Colonel Igor Girkin, leader of the Donbass separatists, claiming responsibility for shooting down an AN-26, but after it became clear that a civilian aircraft had been shot down, the separatists denied any involvement, and the post was taken down. Russia has said that Ukraine "bears full, total responsibility" for the crash because it happened in Ukrainian airspace. The Ukrainian government states the missile was launched by "Russian professionals and coordinated from Russia". In June 2015, Buk manufacturer, the Russian concern Almaz-Anteyannounced that MH17 had been downed by a 9М38М1 Buk-M1 missile.
Malaysia said intelligence reports on the downing of MH17 were "pretty conclusive", but more investigation was necessary to be certain that a surface-to-air missile brought down the plane, after which they would look at the criminal side. The German Federal Intelligence Service reportedly concluded that the plane was shot down by pro-Russian separatists using a captured Ukrainian Buk system.
CT scans of MH17 victims showed "non-aircraft metal" and on 19 December 2014 the Ukrainian security service said that some of the bodies contained metal fragments that indicated the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. Preliminary evidence from the ongoing Dutch investigation has concluded that the plane was most likely downed by a Russian unit that was probably manned by a Russian crew, though other possibilities have not yet been ruled out.
The crash of Flight 17 was the fifth Boeing 777 hull loss. The crash was Malaysia Airlines' worst incident and its second of the year, after the disappearance of Flight 370 four months earlier.
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The Phone Calls after the MH17 Crash. |
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