Malaysian Mh17 Ams To Kul 777 Suspected Shot Down Over Ukraine

[cavanami]

Not so. Aircraft fly over war zones all the time, usually at high enough altitudes and out of range of most surface-to-air missiles.

If you banned aircraft from flying over danger zones you wouldn't have much airspace left!

 

Wrong!

 

When I last flew to Lebanon, they made a detour to avoid going over Syria, adding an extra hour to the flight.

[Flashermac]

From the BBC:

 

16:50: An advisor to the Ukrainian interior minister, Anton Gerashenko, says the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) when it was "hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher", in a post on his Facebook page, according to the Associated Press.

 

16:50: The Associated Press says one of its journalists saw a similar launcher near the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhe earlier on Thursday.

 

--------------------

 

 

The flight was heading for KL.

[Flashermac]

Conversation of separatists admitting to downing civilian plane

 

 

New allegations that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by militants have surfaced, with a recording of an alleged conversation between Russian military intelligence officers and members of terrorist groups serving as "proof", a Ukraine English daily reports.

 

In the conversation allegedly intercepted and released by the Ukraine's security agency (SBU), a militant notes the plane is "100% civilian".

 

The "conversation" translated by Ukraine’sThe Kyiv Post has one Igor Bezler - a commander of the self-styled separatist Donetsk People’s Republic - conversing with someone believed to be a colonel with the Russian Armed Forces, Vasili Geranin.

 

Bezler says, "We have just shot down a plane," and Vasili responds "Pilots, where are the pilots?"

 

Later two militants are heard discussing the attack, with one saying the aircraft "fell apart in the air".

 

"We have found the first fatality," he says later, "a civilian. "In short, it was a 100% passenger aircraft."

 

He notes the debris fell "right into the yards of homes", and says there was nothing left except bodies, seats, civilian items like "medical stuff, towels, toilet paper".

 

The militant later says, "Regarding the plane shot down in the area of Snizhne-Torez. "It's a civilian one. Fell down near Grabove. There are lots of corpses of women and children. The Cossacks are out there looking at all this.

 

"They say on TV it's an AN-26 transport plane, but they say it's written Malaysia Airlines on the plane. What was it doing on Ukraine's territory?

 

A man alleged to be a militant commander responds, "That means they were carrying spies. They shouldn't be flying. There is a war going on.

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Conversation-of-separatists-admitting-to-downing-c-30238821.html

[Flashermac]

No distress call from downed plane, says Najib

 

 

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has confirmed that the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 which went down in Eastern Ukraine did not give out a distress call.

 

He said the flight route was declared safe by International Civil Aviation Organisation and International Air Transport Association stated that the airspace MH17 was traversing was not subject to restrictions.

 

He said that Ukranian authorities believed that the plane was shot down but that Malaysia was unable to verify this at this moment.

 

"If it is confirmed that the plane is shot down, then the perpetrators must be brought to justice," he told a press conference at the Sama Sama hotel in Sepang.

 

Najib said that he has talked to Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko who pledged a full, thorough investigation into the incident.

 

He said that the Ukranian president had confirmed negotiations with rebels for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor.

 

Najib also confirmed that he had spoken to US President Obama and they had agreed that an international team should have full access to the crash site, and that no one was to move any debris including the black box.

 

"This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia. The flight’s passengers were from many nations but we are all united in grief,' said Najib.

 

Flight MH17 disappeared from radar screens in eastern Ukraine at around 1415 GMT, hours after the Boeing 777, bound for Kuala Lumpur, had taken off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/No-distress-call-from-downed-plane-says-Najib-30238820.html

[StoneSoup]

Not so. Aircraft fly over war zones all the time, usually at high enough altitudes and out of range of most surface-to-air missiles.

If you banned aircraft from flying over danger zones you wouldn't have much airspace left!

 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/crashes/why-wasnt-civilian-air-traffic-banned-from-ukraines-airspace-16996305?click=pm_latest

 

The money quote: "What person with a sane mind would fly over a combat zone where there is chance of hostile action?", says Ron Ruggeri, a former air traffic controller for the FAA who now teaches ATC management at Vaughn College. But, he says, because diverting planes around zones can add to flying time, and consume more fuel, such decisions aren’t taken lightly."

[StoneSoup]

MSNBC "takes the cake": 'Great job of vetting their choice of experts - and of TV journalists:

 

http://www.progressivestoday.com/msnbc-expert-malaysian-plane-shot-down-by-blast-of-wind-from-howard-sterns-ass/

 

It's a wonder that MSNBC can even figure out how to turn the lights on in their studio.

[StoneSoup]

Here's an interesting observation: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-17/was-flight-mh-17-diverted-over-restricted-airspace

[robaus]

http://www.popularme...click=pm_latest

"What person with a sane mind would fly over a combat zone where there is chance of hostile action?"

 

Thai

BA

KLM

Finnair

Singapore Airlines

Lufthansa

Alitalia

Swissair

 

...apparently.

[StoneSoup]

Thai

BA

KLM

Finnair

Singapore Airlines

Lufthansa

Alitalia

Swissair

 

...apparently.

 

http://www.wired.com...raine-airspace/

[Flashermac]

Difficult to identify aircraft in hostile airspace

 

 

It is difficult for militant groups to determine if an aircraft flying over hostile airspace is of a civilian or military nature.

 

Ahmad Salman Abdul Rahim, one of the Malaysian jihadists fighting in Syria, said civilians were at great risk as militant groups did not possess the radar equipment and technology to ascertain if an air target was ’friend or foe’.

 

"In Syria airspace for instance, commercial flights are allowed passage through the airspace even though the country is at war.

 

"Sometimes, there is a misunderstanding between us, thinking that it is one of the enemy’s aircrafts, only to discover that it is actually a civilian plane," he posted to his Facebook page following the Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane crash in Ukraine on Thursday night.

 

Referring to the fate of MH17, which is said to have been shot down from the sky, Ahmad Salman said the warring parties could then point fingers at each other if "unwanted incidents" occurred.

 

"This is a reality that poses a great risk to the safety of civilians. Is there no alternative route for civilian airplanes to take?" he wrote.

 

Ahmad Salman also expressed his shock at the incident and conveyed his group’s condolences to the loved ones of the passengers and crew onboard the flight.

 

"This is an important lesson for us to learn from," he added.

 

MH17, en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, departed at 12.15pm local time and was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.10am Malaysian time the next day.

 

The flight was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew onboard.

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/aec/Difficult-to-identify-aircraft-in-hostile-airspace-30238846.html