PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
Flight 17 report names Buk missile
MH17 WAS BROUGHT DOWN BY A BUK MISSILE
The report found that the Boeing 777, travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was brought down by “a 9N314M warhead carried on the 9M38-series of missiles as installed on the Buk surface-to-air missile system.” The Russian-made Buk had long been speculated as the cause and the report found that missile fragments found in the cockpit crew’s bodies, paint traces and the spray pattern of the blast were all consistent with the Buk. The missile’s Russian manufacturer released a separate report Tuesday disputing the suggestion that a Russian Buk was to blame.
HUNDREDS OF PROJECTILES HIT THE PLANE
According to investigators, the missile exploded less than a metre from upper left hand side of the cockpit, bombarding the plane with fragments travelling at speeds of up to 9,000 km/h. Examiners found more than 350 points where recovered fuselage was either punctured or dented, suggesting that there were more than 800 strike points overall. The bow tie- and cube-shaped fragments were made of unalloyed steel and appeared to be “pre-formed.”
THOSE IN COCKPIT WERE KILLED INSTANTLY
The blast killed the two pilots and a purser inside the cockpit in an instant, and ripped off the front of the plane. A “pressure wave” of hot air and a deafening sound wave followed. While some of the passengers might have been conscious in the up to 90 seconds it took to hit the ground, they probably were not fully aware of what was happening amid the oxygen-starved, freezing chaos. Some passengers were found without clothes, which were ripped from their bodies by the “powerful airflow.”
THE MISSILE WAS LAUNCHED FROM REBEL TERRITORY
The report did not consider who launched the missile, but it did identify an area of 320 square kilometres from which the launch must have taken place. All the territory within that area was in the hands of Russian-backed separatists at the time of the crash, according to daily maps of fighting released by the Ukrainian National Security Council.
THE AIRSPACE SHOULD HAVE BEEN CLOSED
The tragedy wouldn’t have happened if the airspace of eastern Ukraine had been closed to passenger planes as fighting raged below, the Dutch Safety Board said. “Our investigation showed that all parties regarded the conflict in eastern part of Ukraine from a military perspective. Nobody gave any thought of a possible threat to civil aviation,” said Safety Board chairman Tjibbe Joustra.