Month: July 2014

Michael Settle
Herald, Scotland
19 July 2014

PRESSURE is mounting on Russia over the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 as it was confirmed the British death toll among the 298 victims, who included 80 ­children, has risen to 10.

US President Barack Obama described Thursday’s crash, from which there were no survivors, as “a global tragedy.”

Circumstantial evidence ­indicated Thursday’s flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine from 33,000ft by a surface-to-air missile fired from near the mining city of Torez, which lies in territory controlled by rebels seeking closer ties to Moscow.

Mr Obama stressed it was not the first time the rebels had shot down planes in the region, adding that a “steady flow of support from Russia” had included heavy weapons and anti-aircraft weapons. Continue reading “Pressure mounts on Putin as British death toll from shot plane rises to 10”

Clive Irving
The Daily Beast
7.19.14

A missile attack over Ukraine and a ghostly disappearance over the Indian Ocean have cast a pall over the whole experience of airline travel.

Was there ever such a luckless airline as Malaysian Airlines? As a human tragedy, the double blow can barely be measured in its horror. As a statistic, it’s unparalleled in aviation history: nearly 600 people lost on one airline in less than five months. And for the airline industry the two disasters, one still inexplicable and the other brutally terminal, cast a pall over the whole experience of flying.

Right now one has to cast aside all the reservations about how the airline and Malaysian officials handled the disappearance of Flight 370. The sheer improbability of the dice rolling against the airline again in the form of a missile strike over Ukraine just heightens the agony.

Of all the airplanes in the sky over Europe that morning, Malaysia Flight 17 happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If another airliner from another nation had been in the crosshairs of whoever controlled that missile battery the result would have been equally appalling, but there it is, lying in a Ukrainian meadow, that familiar Malaysian decal on a shattered tailfin. Continue reading “Twin Disasters Turn 2014 Into the Year of Flying Dangerously”

Mark Thompson
TIME
July 17, 2014

Common thread in shootdowns is multiple mistakes

It’s looking increasingly likely that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine Thursday by a Russian-built Buk missile, killing all 298 people on board. While that’s yet unconfirmed, U.S. officials, reviewing satellite data and other intelligence, believe a missile downed the airplane, and that pro-Russian separatists inside Ukraine are the most likely to have fired the killer shot.

We have seen this horror movie before.

It began with a Soviet warplane shooting down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983. The Soviets initially denied any involvement, but ultimately conceded one of its Su-15 interceptors had shot down the plane, killing all 269 aboard. Continue reading “Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: Fateful Errors, Fatal Decisions”

Economist
Jul 18th 2014

by N.S. | GRABOVO

THE field is filled with bodies. One has on jeans, but no shoes. A second is in a polo shirt and grey socks, one of which is charred. A third wears blue trousers, but your correspondent cannot see the face, smashed as it is under the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Eastern Ukraine has been at war for nearly three months. At first the violence came at a slow drip that few thought could turn into a torrent. Now 298 people—283 passengers and 15 crew—have died in an instant, their deaths seemingly the work of a sophisticated surface-to-air missile.

Passengers onboard Flight 17 had made themselves comfortable for the long journey from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. One, in black leggings, now rests next to a black duffle bag, which is somehow intact. A green luggage strap lies in the grass like a snake. Someone comments on the smell: acrid, heavy. Only death smells this way. Continue reading “Flight MH17 – “This is not a disaster. It is Hell””

By SABRINA TAVERNISE and KEITH BRADSHER
New York Times
JULY 18, 2014

GRABOVO, Ukraine — As rescue teams slowly converged on the grisly scene of Thursday’s downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet, the Russian defense ministry sharply denied any involvement in the missile strike that Ukrainian officials said ripped the Boeing 777 from the sky and many began openly questioning why the airline had chosen to fly a civilian aircraft over a combat zone.

The crash site was still unsecured by midday Friday, raising questions about who controlled the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and other onboard devices that will help determine exactly how the crash occurred. Rebel spokesmen said they had recovered most of the devices, but it was unclear when and to whom they would turn them over for investigation. Continue reading “Russia Denies Role in Downing of Airliner”

The Malay Mail Online
July 18, 2014

SEOUL, July 18 ― The Malaysian airliner apparently shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine was flying over airspace that a number of other Asian carriers abandoned months ago because of security concerns.

South Korea’s two main airlines, Korean Air and Asiana, as well as Australia’s Qantas said they all rerouted flights from as early as the beginning of March when Russian troops moved into Crimea.

“We stopped flying over Ukraine because of safety concerns,” Asiana spokeswoman Lee Hyo-Min said.

Korean Air re-routed its flights 250 kilometres (160 miles) south of Ukraine “due to the political unrest in the region”, an official for the carrier told AFP.

A Qantas spokeswoman said its London to Dubai service used to fly over Ukraine, but the route was changed “several months ago”.

Quizzed as to why Malaysia Airlines had not taken similar precautions, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said earlier today that international air authorities had deemed the flight path secure. Continue reading “Some other Asian carriers abandoned Ukraine airspace months ago”

The Malaysian Insider
18 July 2014

A Ukrainian daily has published what it said was recordings of phone conversations, firstly between Russian intelligence officers and secondly between separatist commanders, about a downed passenger jet believed to be the crashed flight MH17.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 carrying 298 people on board from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur had crashed in a war-zone in Ukraine yesterday, 50km from Russian border.

US intelligence officials say a missile struck the Boeing 777 jet but no one has claimed responsibility in the area where pro-Russian rebels are fighting Ukrainian forces.

The recordings have not been independently verified, The Daily Mail reported on its online portal.

In the first, Igor Bezler, who the Ukrainians claim is a Russian intelligence officer and leading commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, tells a commander: “We have just shot down a plane about ‘30 minutes ago’.”

In the second, more detailed recording, a rebel nicknamed “Major” says the Malaysian Airlines jet was shot down by “Cossacks from the Chernukhino roadblock” adding: “It is definitely a civilian plane… there was a lot of people on board.”

“Major” tells a comrade with the codename “Greek” it was “100% a passenger (civilian) aircraft”. Continue reading “Ukrainian daily publishes transcript of rebels discussing MH17”

All Malaysians are united as one people behind the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and fully back his call for “swift justice” against the perpetrators of the crime against humanity who blew MH 17 civilian aircraft out of the sky in Ukranian airspace last night and murdered 298 passengers and crew on board in cold blood.

Before the country has recovered from the disaster of the 132-day disappearance of MH 370 Boeing 777 jet with 239 passengers/crew on board on March 8, despite the largest and longest multi-national air, land, sea and sub-sea search, Malaysians reel with incredulity, shock and grief at another major air disaster to hit the country involving another Boeing 777 jet in less than five months.

Malaysia is in mourning today with Malaysians totally distraught at the senseless and criminal snuffing out of innocent lives, including three infants, as a result of the unspeakable crime against humanity against MH 17 in Ukraine.

All Malaysians extend the deepest condolences to the bereaved families, relatives and friends of the 298 passengers/crew of MH 17. Continue reading “MH 17 disaster – fully supports Najib’s call for “swift justice” against perpetrators of crime against humanity who blew the Malaysian Airlines plane out of the sky and murdered 298 passengers/crew on board”

FoxNews.com
July 17, 2014

A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane with 298 aboard was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Ukraine near the Russian border a day after a Ukrainian military jet was downed, Fox News has confirmed.

The Boeing 777 bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot down at cruising altitude about 35 miles from the border, according to Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister. He said all passengers and crew members were killed. A Reuters correspondent near the scene reported seeing burning wreckage and bodies strewn across a nine-mile debris field. A Ukrainian Emergency official told the news agency body parts and at least 100 bodies were seen in the area.

Although Malaysia Airlines originally said there were 280 passengers and a crew of 15 aboard the flight, it later upped the number of passengers to 283 to account for three infants.

The flight manifest reportedly included the names of 23 Americans, though State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a briefing Thursday, “we don’t have any additional details at this point on American citizens” aboard the plane. Continue reading “Malaysia Airlines passenger jet shot down over Ukraine, 298 dead”

Andy Pasztor And Jon Ostrower
Wall Street Journal
July 17, 2014

Investigators looking into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 face a series of unusually daunting challenges—from accessing the crash scene in the first place to taking possession of the plane’s “black boxes”—that raise questions about whether any probe will be widely considered credible.

The crash site is in territory held by rebels, not controlled by the central government in Kiev. It is unclear the extent of cooperation between the two over access for international investigators who typically flock to the scene, sometimes within hours of a plane going down on land.

Ukraine officials have also said the rebels have taken possession of the plane’s data and cockpit recorders, or black boxes, complicating any attempt by international investigators to take possession of this equipment—one of the most important elements of any aircraft crash probe. Continue reading “Investigation Into Malaysia Airlines Crash in Ukraine Faces Daunting Challenges”

BY MD IZWAN and ELIZABETH ZACHARIAH
The Malaysian Insider
18 July 2014

Pakatan Rakyat leaders expressed their shock over reports that a Malaysia Airlines flight had crashed late last night near the Ukraine-Russia border, with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim offering prayers for all on board.

The opposition leader said on Twitter that he was still awaiting confirmation about the tragedy and was praying for the passengers and crew of flight MH17.

“MH17, Ya Allah. Another tragedy. Awaiting details, pray for safety,” he tweeted.

Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was believed to have been shot down over eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian militants on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard.

MAS has confirmed that Ukraine air traffic control lost contact with flight MH17 at 10.15pm local time. Continue reading “Pakatan leaders express shock, pray for those on board flight MH17”

By Zurairi AR
The Malay Mail Online
July 18, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 ― Malaysians woke up today to an eerily familiar feeling of tragedy: another one of the nation’s airplanes has gone down and, with it, hundreds of civilian lives.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was due to touch down in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10am today from Amsterdam, but it never made it home, crashing instead near the strife-torn border of Ukraine and Russia.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak described it aptly when he addressed the media at the 4am, saying this was “a tragic day in an already tragic year”, following the disappearance of Beijing-bound MH370 five months ago.

Malaysia still could not verify independently the reason behind the plane’s crash, but here is what we know so far: Continue reading “Six questions about: The MH17 crash in Ukraine”