News Backgrounder
Malaysia on hunt for “trigger happy criminals” who destroyed MH17
November 1st 2015
Following the release of the report into the downing of MH17, Malaysia has vowed to seek the prosecution of the “trigger-happy criminals” who downed the flight. Read More » Transport minister, Liow Tiong Lai, said that as a party to the investigation “Malaysia remains single-minded in our pursuit of decisive action that will lead to prosecution of the trigger-happy criminals”.
Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, vowed his government would continue to press for justice “until those behind this heinous act are made to pay for their crimes”.
 |
| Source: Dutch Safety Board |
Moscow has vehemently denied any involvement in the crash and has blamed Ukrainian government forces who were battling a fierce rebellion by pro-Russian separatists in the east at the time of the shooting down of MH17.
A separate criminal inquiry into the flight’s downing, led by the Netherlands is still underway, with participation from Malaysia, Australia, Ukraine and Belgium. Though the criminal report is not due until next year, a statement released by the international team said their findings “point in the same direction” and that they had identified “persons of interest”.
The year-long Dutch Safety Board investigation concluded last month that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine last year by a Russian-built Buk missile. It also pointed the finger of blame at Ukrainian air navigation services and airlines themselves.
It said it was clear that Ukraine “already had sufficient reason” to close the airspace over the conflict-torn eastern part of the country as a precaution before July18, 2014, the day the jet was downed.
But it went further and said the system of responsibilities for flying over conflict areas is inadequate. “Operators assume that unrestricted airspaces are safe. When assessing the risk, the operators 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,” the investigation found.
It added it is extremely important that parties involved in aviation, including states, international organizations 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.
At the time of the shooting down of MH17, airspace over the eastern part of Ukraine was being heavily used. Between July 14 and 17 July 2014, 61 airlines 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.
The Dutch board made it clear Malaysia Airlines prepared and operated flight MH17 in accordance with regulations and that, as the state of departure, the Netherlands had no responsibility to advise the airline about the chosen flight route.
Reacting to the report, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) pointed out to Orient Aviation the investigation confirmed that in the months leading up to the tragedy, no state or international organization explicitly warned of any risks to civil aviation and no states prohibited its airlines from using the airspace or imposed other restrictions.
“In the wake of MH17, the industry quickly joined together under ICAO to identify and address the gaps exposed by this event. Airlines need clear and accurate information on which to make risk assessments on where and when it is safe to fly,” IATA said.
“Such information must be accessible in an authoritative, accurate, consistent, and unequivocal way. This is the responsibility of states. Even sensitive information can be sanitized in a way that ensures airlines get essential and actionable information without compromising methods or sources.
“ICAO’s Conflict Zone Information Repository, where states can share their conflict zone information, is a good start and some states are beginning to provide very useful information.
“We collectively need to encourage more states to participate.” The aviation industry is calling for a global convention to impose on states more explicit obligations to manage the design, manufacture, sale, and deployment of anti-aircraft weaponry.
The Dutch-led investigation, which involved nine nations, including Malaysia and Australia, left no doubt that a Russian-manufactured missile downed MH17. The crash was caused by the detonation of a 9N314M-type warhead launched from the eastern part of Ukraine using a Buk missile system, the investigators ruled.
In an impressive presentation of the findings, which included digital reconstruction of events, the investigation showed MH17 progressed normally up to the moment it was flying over the eastern part of Ukraine. “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 airplane broke up in the air. Wreckage from the aircraft was distributed over various sites in an area of 50 square kilometres. All 298 occupants were killed,” the investigators’ report said.
The safety board said it had established the cause of the crash on the basis of several sources. 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 were 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 matched 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 aircraft or an air-to-air missile, were investigated and excluded. “No scenario other than a Buk surface-to-air missile can explain this combination of facts,” said investigators.
