Investigators
from the Netherlands have released a preliminary report on the MH17 airliner
crash in east Ukraine. The findings say the airliner was pierced by
"high-speed objects," and cockpit activity "ended
abruptly."
Deutsche Welle, 9 Sep 2014
Air crash
investigators said on Tuesday that the plane was likely hit "by a large
number of high-energy objects." Furthermore, the distribution of the
wreckage over a large area indicated that the aircraft broke up in the air,
according the report published on the website of the Dutch Safety Board (OVV).
The
Malaysia Airlines flight went down over war-torn eastern Ukraine on July 17
while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board the
Boeing 777 were killed, including 193 Dutch citizens.
The West
has accused Moscow-backed separatist fighters of shooting down the airliner
with a Russian-supplied surface-to-air missile. The Russian government has
blamed the Ukrainian military.
The OVV
report does not assign blame for the incident.
At the time
of the incident, the Malaysia Airlines plane was flying at approximately 33,000
feet (10,000 meters), above the restricted airspace zone, according to
investigators. The cockpit voice recorder "ended abruptly" and no
distress signal was sent.
"Damage
observed on the forward fuselage and cockpit section of the aircraft appears to
indicate that there were impacts from a large number of high-energy objects
from outside the aircraft," the report said.
More research will be necessary to determine more precisely what caused the crash and how the airplane disintegrated. #MH17
— Onderzoeksraad (@Onderzoeksraad) 9 september 2014
There was
no evidence the crash was the result of a technical problem or pilot error.
Investigation
difficulties
Dutch
investigators have not been able to access the crash site, near the city of
Torez, because of ongoing fighting in the area. They instead have had to rely
on information about the scene of the incident from Ukrainian crash
specialists.
Forensic
experts were sent to the site not long after the crash, but their investigation
was suspended do to the conflict. So far 193 of the victims have been
identified.
The
report's preliminary findings are based on information from the cockpit voice
recorder and flight data recorder, otherwise known as the "black boxes." It also includes satellite and radar information, pictures and
video taken at the scene and data provided by Ukrainian air traffic control.
The plane's
black boxes were analyzed by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in
Farnborough, Britain.
Examination
of "photographs from the wreckage indicated that the material around the
holes was deformed in a manner consistent with being punctured by high-energy
objects."
Further
investigation
The OVV
said a full report is expected in mid-2015.
The United
Nations says more than 3,000 people have been killed, if the MH17 victims are
included, since fighting began in Ukraine in April.
A tentative
ceasefire between government forces and the pro-Russian separatists took effect
on Friday.
MH17 is the
second Malaysian Airlines plane to be lost this year. Flight MH370 from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijjing disappeared from radar in March. It is believed to have
crashed in the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia, killing all 239
passengers and crew.
dr/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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