Dutch Safety Board: Buk Surface-to-Air Missile System Caused MH17 Crash

The Hague (ots/PRNewswire) -

The crash of flight MH17 on 17 July 2014 was caused by the
detonation of a 9N314M-type warhead launched from the eastern part of
Ukraine using a Buk missile system. So says the investigation report
published by the Dutch Safety Board today. Moreover, it is clear that
Ukraine already had sufficient reason to close the airspace over the
eastern part of Ukraine as a precaution before 17 July 2014. None of
the parties involved recognised the risk posed to overflying civil
aircraft by the armed conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine.

In response to the crash of flight MH17 the Dutch Safety Board has
conducted various investigations, which have been published in two
reports. The first report is on the causes of the crash and the issue
of flying over conflict areas. The second report is on the
compilation of the passenger list and the process of informing the
relatives of the Dutch victims. The rationale behind the
investigations has been published separately.

Buk missile system

The investigation has shown that flight MH17 progressed normally
up to the moment when the aeroplane was flying over the eastern part
of Ukraine. At 13.20 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) a 9N314M
warhead, launched by a Buk surface-to-air missile system from a
320-square-kilometre area in the eastern part of Ukraine, detonated
to the left and above the cockpit. The forward section of the
aircraft was penetrated by hundreds of high-energy objects coming
from the warhead. As a result of the impact and the subsequent blast,
the three crew members in the cockpit were killed immediately and the
aeroplane broke up in the air. Wreckage from the aeroplane was
distributed over various sites within an area of 50 square
kilometres. All 298 occupants were killed.

The Dutch Safety Board has established the cause of the crash on
the basis of several sources. For example, the weapon system used was
identified on the basis of, among other things, the damage pattern on
the wreckage, the fragments found in the wreckage and in the bodies
of crew members, and the way in which the aircraft broke up. The
findings are supported by the data on the flight recorders; the
Cockpit Voice Recorder picked up a sound peak during the final
milliseconds. In addition, traces of paint on a number of missile
fragments found match the paint on parts of a missile recovered from
the area by the Dutch Safety Board. Other potential causes, such as
an explosion inside the aeroplane or an air-to-air missile, have been
investigated and excluded. No scenario other than a Buk
surface-to-air missile can explain this combination of facts. The
320-square-kilometre area from which the missile was launched has
been determined on the basis of various simulations. Additional
forensic investigation will be needed to establish the exact
launching location; however, such an investigation lies outside the
scope of the Dutch Safety Board's mandate.

The airspace over the eastern part of Ukraine

The airspace over the eastern part of Ukraine was much in use:
between 14 and 17 July 2014, 61 operators from 32 countries routed
their flights through this airspace. On the day of the crash, until
the airspace was closed, 160 commercial airliners flew over the area.
Malaysia Airlines prepared and operated flight MH17 in accordance
with regulations. As the state of departure, the Netherlands had no
responsibility to advise Malaysia Airlines (or KLM, as its code share
partner) with regard to the chosen flight route.

On 17 July 2014 an armed conflict was taking place in the eastern
part of Ukraine. In the preceding months, the conflict had expanded
into the airspace: from late April the number of military aircraft
downed increased. According to statements by the Ukrainian
authorities, in two cases long-range weapons were used. In the Dutch
Safety Board's opinion, Ukraine had sufficient reason to close the
entire airspace over the eastern part of Ukraine as a precaution.
Instead, on military grounds flying at lower altitudes was
restricted. The same turns out to apply to conflict areas elsewhere
in the world: it is rare for a state to close its airspace because of
an armed conflict.

Flying over conflict areas

The Dutch Safety Board has noticed that the current system of
responsibilities with respect to flying over conflict areas is
inadequate. Operators assume that unrestricted airspaces are safe.
When assessing the risk, the operators do usually take into account
the safety of departure and arrival locations, but not the safety of
the countries they fly over. When flying over a conflict area, an
additional risk assessment is necessary. Therefore, the Dutch Safety
Board considers it extremely important that parties involved in
aviation - including states, international organisations such as ICAO
and IATA, and operators - exchange more information about conflict
areas and potential threats to civil aviation. When processing and
interpreting this information, more attention should be paid to the
development of the conflict, including any increase of military
activity and shootings from the ground. States involved in an armed
conflict should receive more incentives and better support to
safeguard the safety of their airspace. In addition, the Dutch Safety
Board is of the opinion that operators should give public account for
their flight routes.

Passenger information

After the crash of flight MH17 was reported, many relatives
gathered at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, hoping to obtain more
information there. At the end of the evening an initial passenger
list was made public. It then took two to four days before all of the
surviving relatives received confirmation from the Dutch authorities.
When gathering information related to the passenger list and
determining the identity of the occupants and their surviving
relatives, the information that various parties gathered about the
victims and their relatives was not combined. The Dutch crisis
organisation failed to function properly and the government
authorities involved lacked direction. In order to improve
information provision after a crash, the Dutch Safety Board
recommends - among other things - that passengers' nationalities be
registered on passenger lists. The Dutch Safety Board also recommends
that the Dutch government make provisions to improve direction in
case of a disaster abroad with a large number of Dutch victims.

Reconstruction

Over the past months, a reconstruction of the forward part of the
aeroplane was assembled at the Dutch air base of Gilze-Rijen. The
reconstruction clearly shows the effects of the impact and subsequent
blast, and has been important for verification and additional
substantiation of the investigation's results.

ots Originaltext: Dutch Safety Board
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Contact / Not For Publication! Press officers Wim van der Weegen:
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+31-6-23-935-124 or: +31-70-333-7000. E-mail: press@safetyboard.nl