Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (flight)

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which crashed in the Ukraine, east of Donetsk, on 17 July 2014
Date	17 July 2014
Deaths	298
Survivors	0
Interest of	Bellingcat, Christopher Black, Dutch Safety Board, Machiavelli Foundation, Mahathir Mohamad
Subpage	•Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/ATC lost contact confirmed •Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/Competing theories •Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/Criminal Investigation •Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/First altitude change •Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/First reports of crash •Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/Last ADS-B contact •Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/Leaves departure gate •Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/Russia's questions to Ukraine •Malaysia Airlines Flight 17/Takeoff

A Boeing 777-200 passenger plane, operating as Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, crashed in the Ukraine, east of Donetsk on 17 July 2014. All 298 on board were killed. Flight MH17 departed the gate at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands at 12:14 hours local time, bound for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was airborne at 12:30 (10:30 UTC) from runway 36C and reached a cruising altitude of FL310 at 12:53 (10:53 UTC). Ninety minutes into the flight, at 12:01 UTC and just prior to entering Ukrainian airspace, the flight climbed to FL330. This altitude was maintained until last contact by ADS-B receivers of flight tracking websites, about 13:21 UTC.

At the point of last contact it was flying 1000 feet above airspace that had been restricted as a result of ongoing fighting in the area. Malaysia Airlines reported that MH17 filed a flight plan requesting FL350 throughout Ukrainian airspace. However, the flight was instructed by Ukrainian air traffic control to fly at FL330.

Unanimity at the UN

UNSC's moment of silence in honour of Flight MH17 victims

On Monday 21 July 2014, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 2166 calling for a full and independent investigation into the crash of Flight MH17 last Thursday in Ukraine.

UNSCR 2166 also demands that international officials are able to access the crash site safely.

The UNSC’s five permanent members are China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia. Its ten non-permanent members are Argentina, Australia, Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Nigeria, South Korea and Rwanda.

It was initially unclear if Russia would support the UNSC Resolution given its support of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine who were allegedly impeding attempts to begin investigations at the crash site.

Text of UNSCR 2166 (2014)

Adopted by the United Nations Security Council at its 7221st meeting, on 21 July 2014:

The Security Council,

Deploring the downing of a civilian aircraft on an international flight, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, on 17 July in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, with the loss of all 298 passengers and crew on board,

Reaffirming the rules of international law that prohibit acts of violence that pose a threat to the safety of international civil aviation and emphasising the importance of holding those responsible for violations of these rules to account,

Recalling its press statement of 18 July 2014,

Stressing the need for a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines, noting in this regard the crucial role played by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in aircraft accident and incident investigations, and welcoming the decision by ICAO to send a team to work in coordination with the Ukrainian National Bureau of Incidents and Accidents Investigation of Civil Aircraft in this investigation, following a request for assistance by Ukraine to ICAO and others,

Expressing serious concern that armed groups in Ukraine have impeded immediate, safe, secure and unrestricted access to the crash site and the surrounding area for the appropriate investigating authorities, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and representatives of other relevant international organisations assisting the investigation in accordance with ICAO and other established procedures,

1. Condemns in the strongest terms the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on 17 July in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine resulting in the tragic loss of 298 lives;

2. Reiterates its deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims of this incident and to the people and governments of the victims’ countries of origin;

3. Supports efforts to establish a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines;

4. Recognises the efforts under way by Ukraine, working in coordination with ICAO and other international experts and organisations, including representatives of States of Occurrence, Registry, Operator, Design and Manufacture, as well as States who have lost nationals on MH17, to institute an international investigation of the incident, and calls on all States to provide any requested assistance to civil and criminal investigations related to this incident;

5. Expresses grave concern at reports of insufficient and limited access to the crash site;

6. Demands that the armed groups in control of the crash site and the surrounding area refrain from any actions that may compromise the integrity of the crash site, including by refraining from destroying, moving, or disturbing wreckage, equipment, debris, personal belongings, or remains, and immediately provide safe, secure, full and unrestricted access to the site and surrounding area for the appropriate investigating authorities, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and representatives of other relevant international organisations according to ICAO and other established procedures;

7. Demands that all military activities, including by armed groups, be immediately ceased in the immediate area surrounding the crash site to allow for security and safety of the international investigation;

8. Insists on the dignified, respectful and professional treatment and recovery of the bodies of the victims, and calls upon all parties to ensure that this happens with immediate effect;

9. Calls on all States and actors in the region to cooperate fully in relation to the international investigation of the incident, including with respect to immediate and unrestricted access to the crash site as referred to in paragraph 6;

10. Welcomes in this regard the statement on 17 July 2014 by the Trilateral Contact Group of senior representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the OSCE and demands that the commitments outlined in that statement be implemented in full;

11. Demands that those responsible for this incident be held to account and that all States cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability;

12. Urges all parties to the Convention on International Civil Aviation to observe to the fullest extent applicable, the international rules, standards and practices concerning the safety of civil aviation, in order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, and demands that all States and other actors refrain from acts of violence directed against civilian aircraft;

13. Welcomes the full cooperation of the United Nations offered by the Secretary-General in this investigation, and requests the Secretary-General to identify possible options for United Nations support to the investigation and to report to the Security Council on relevant developments;

14. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Responsibility

Ukraine's Position

ITAR-TASS reported in June that Donetsk defence forces seized BUK missile defence systems from an army unit operating in the region, a point repeated and echoed by NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Philip Breedlove in a Pentagon press briefing on 30 June 2014. However, this was directly contradicted on July 18th by Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Vitaly Yarema, who told Ukrainian Pravda that militias do not have access to BUK delivery systems or S-300s.

On July 19th, Ukrainian intelligence posted what they claim to be intercepted communications showing Russian responsibility for the downing of MH17 along with an English transcript. Numerous alternative media sources claim that the creation timestamp on the video indicates it was created before the crash took place.

Ukraine also claims that a post appeared on the social media account of rebel commander Igor Strelkov exactly 35 minutes after the crash appearing to take credit for the downing. Subsequent reporting, however, pointed out that the post was ambiguously worded and the social media account in question may not be run by Strelkov at all.

The Ukraine security service also published a video on July 18th purporting to show the actual BUK missile launcher used to bring down the plane being shuttled back across the border from Ukraine to Russia. Despite the fact that there is no confirmation from any source when, where or how this video was taken, or whether it in fact shows a BUK system on a Russian transport vehicle, it has been uncritically reported on in much of the western press.

Alternative Positions

MH17 flight paths leading to 17 July 2014

How other airlines avoid overflying Eastern Ukraine

In a statement issued late in the day on July 17th, Russian President Vladimir Putin said:

"I want to note that this tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in southeast Ukraine. And, certainly, the state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility for this awful tragedy."

A report originally posted to Russia Today (RT.com) shortly after the downing suggested that the real target of the missile might have been President Putin’s plane, which was said to have been scheduled to fly over the exact same airspace as MH17 less than an hour after it was shot down. This claim has since been retracted and RT has noted that Putin has been avoiding Ukrainian airspace altogether since the recent coup took place in Kiev.

According to a report circulating widely in the alternative media, a Spanish air traffic controller working in the Ukraine on the 17th tweeted a series of messages indicating that the Ukrainian military shot down the flight and that "Kiev authorities" and "foreigners" subsequently took over the civilian air traffic control centre overseeing the disputed airspace in an apparent cover-up. The twitter account (@spainbuca) of the alleged air traffic controller, "Carlos," was then reportedly removed. [UPDATE: Global Research is now reporting that this story is likely fake and that sources indicate the tweets were being sent out of London.]

Some researchers suggest that the timing of the disaster, coming as it does right after Putin heralded the beginning of the long-awaited BRICS Development Bank is more than coincidental. This theory posits that the crash was staged by the US/EU/NATO or other powers as part of a proxy war taking place in the "new cold war" between Russia (one of the key players in an organisation that is seen as a key rival to the so-called "Washington Consensus" institutions, the IMF and the World Bank) and the US.

Victims

All 283 passengers and 15 crew died. The crew were Malaysian and of the passengers, 193 were Dutch nationals, 43 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians and 10 British.

Among the passengers were delegates en route to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, including Joep Lange, a former president of the International AIDS Society, which organised the conference. Many initial reports erroneously indicated 100 attendees of the conference were aboard but this was later revised to six. Some have suggested that the researchers may have been planning a high profile questioning of the origins of AIDS, and drawn a parallel with the head of the WHO's AIDS programme, Jonathan Mann, who also died in a plane crash (Swissair 111). Also on board were Dutch senator Willem Witteveen, Australian author Liam Davison, and Malaysian actress Shuba Jay.

At least twenty family groups were on board the aircraft, and eighty of the passengers were children. An Australian family lost relatives on both MH17 and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared four months earlier.

Support for the families

On 23 July 2014, Dr Jim Swire wrote an article in The Telegraph advising the MH17 relatives to form a support group:

After Lockerbie, there was no support group, no protocol and many mistakes were made. We were kept in the dark by the authorities and treated insensitively by politicians and the media. It took many years of persistence to feel we had achieved any level of justice.

I would advise the families of MH17 victims to form a group, perhaps taking advice from the charity "Disaster Action", which was established in 1991 by relatives in the aftermath of Lockerbie and other tragedies. They need to appoint a legal counsel and a spokesman. They must insist on being kept informed at every stage of the investigation.

Some relatives will want justice, others to forget, but some may demand revenge. I will never forget being approached at the Lockerbie trial by another relative who suggested that the answer was "to nuke Tripoli". This hunger for retribution will stalk some lives in the months and years to come, but it will only damage them.

Incredibly to some, the convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi became my friend before he died. I had come to believe firmly that he was innocent of any involvement. It helped my grieving process.

But first, for the traumatised families of the victims of MH17, the bodies must be recovered and returned home. Then the truth must come out. After that, their healing can begin.

Motives

Tony Gosling has suggested that if may not be coincidence that two recent commercial airliners were Malaysian. He notes that Malaysia has been one of the staunchest opponents of the US government's "war on terror", and suggests that the plane's misfortunes may be a form of intimidation.

 

Related Quotation

Page	Quote	Author	Date
Mahathir Mohamad	“The conclusions of the Joint Investigation Team that there's a clear link with Russia is hearsay. We as Malaysians are very unhappy because it became a political case from the start just to be able to accuse Russia of wrongdoing.”	Mahathir Mohamad	2019

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:MH-17 Mystery: A New Tonkin Gulf Case?	article	17 July 2015	Robert Parry	A First anniversary retrospective drawing a compelling parallel with the 'Gulf of Tonkin incident' which became the casus belli for the Vietnam war.
Document:MH-17 Slips into propaganda fog	article	9 July 2015	Robert Parry	Almost a year ago, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine killing 298 people. Yet, instead of a transparent investigation seeking justice, the case became a propaganda game of finger-pointing, with the CIA withholding key evidence all the better to blame Russia
Document:MH17 And Other Traps To Avoid	article	25 August 2015	Christopher Black	A follow-up to the author's article of 2 August 2015 on the same subject. The continuing propaganda and barefaced dishonesty of western politicians and media over the tragedy of MH17
Document:MH17 Tribunal. The Trap Russia Avoided	article	2 August 2015	Christopher Black	The trap being set by the July 2015 UK-proposed UNSC resolution to establish a UN Tribunal to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner - by an author with coal-face experience of these things
Document:Obama Should Release MH-17 Intel	Memorandum	22 July 2015	Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity	US Intelligence Officials Demand that Obama Release MH-17 Intel
Document:Propaganda, Intelligence and MH-17	article	17 August 2015	Ray McGovern	Propaganda is the life-blood of life-destroying wars, and the U.S. government has reached new heights (or depths) in this art of perception management. A case in point is the media manipulation around last year’s Malaysia Airlines shoot-down over Ukraine, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
Document:United Nations Security Council Resolution 2166	legal document	21 July 2014	United Nations Security Council
File:How MH17 was shot down.pdf	technical analysis	5 March 2015	Colonel Cassad	An updated analysis of how Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down and taking account of developments up to 4 March 2015
File:MH17 Report by Russian Union of Engineers.pdf	report	15 August 2014	Russian Union of Engineers	Analysis and report by the Russian Union of Engineers into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 0n 17 July 2014
File:MH17 preliminary report.pdf	report	9 September 2014	Dutch Safety Board staff	The preliminary report by the Dutch Safety Board into the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on 17 July 2014
File:MH17Analysis.pdf	technical analysis	6 August 2014	Anonymous	Persuasive MH17 crash analysis demonstrating that, IF the aircraft was brought down by a 'Buk' SAM, then the missile could NOT have been fired from territory controlled by the DPR militia
File:Report-mh17-crash-en.pdf	report	13 October 2013	Dutch Safety Board	Dutch Safety Board report into the MH17 disaster

 

The Official Culprit

Name	Description
Russia	The largest nation state in the world

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