Malaysian airliner downed
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala
Lumpur with 295 people aboard crashed Thursday in Ukraine near the Russian
border after reportedly being hit by a missile, according to an adviser to
Ukraine's interior ministry.
Malaysia Airlines confirmed on its
Facebook page that
Ukrainian air traffic control lost contact with flight MH17 about 30 miles from
the Russian-Ukraine border. The airlines said the plane was carrying 280
passengers and 15 crew members.
Anton Gerashenko, the adviser,
says on his Facebook page the plane was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet when it was hit
Thursday by a missile fired from a BUK launcher, the Associated Press reports. BUK, also known as
SA-17 GRIZZLY, is a mobile anti-aircraft system mounted usually on a tracked
vehicle or truck that can simultaneously track and strike six targets flying
from different directions and at different altitudes, according to military
think tank
It was not immediately clear who would have been in control of
such a launcher in the restive area where Ukrainian forces are battling ethnic
Russian separatists.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
said his country's armed forces didn't shoot at any airborne targets.
"We do not exclude that this plane
was shot down, and we stress that the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take
action against any airborne targets," he said. "We are sure that
those who are guilty in this tragedy will be held responsible."
A separatist leader in Donetsk, in
eastern Ukraine, confirmed that the plane crashed in the area, but denied that
rebel forces had the capability to shoot down a plane at such an altitude.
Alexander Boroday, chairman of the
Council of Ministers of the self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk, called the
incident a provocation the Ukrainian military, the Russian Interfax news agency reports.
"We confirm that the plane crashed
not far from Donetsk," Boroday said. "Representatives of Donetsk
People's Republic have headed to the scene of the plane search."
"Self-defense forces have no
air-defense, which could target transport aircraft at that height," he
told Interfax.
Russia's military also says none of its
military planes have been flying close to the Russia-Ukraine border on Thursday,
RIA Novosti reported citing an unidentified military official.
The Malaysian airliner crash occurred in
a region where separatists have shot down Ukrainians aircraft at higher and
higher altitudes in recent days, says Damon Wilson, a Russia and Ukraine expert
in the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
On Wednesday, a Russian military plane
alegedly shot down a Ukrainian jet fighter over Ukrainian territory, forcing
the pilot to eject, according to the Ukrainian National Security and Defense
Council spokesman.
Andriy Lysenko told reporters the pilot
of the Su-25 assault aircraft was not injured and was rescued by Ukrainian
military units.
Pro-Russia rebels, meanwhile, claimed
responsibility for strikes Wednesday on two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 jets. The
Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the second jet was hit by a portable
surface-to-air missile, but added the pilot was unscathed and managed to land
his plane safely.
"There have been Ukrainian
helicopters and aircraft operating under the assumption of limited separatist
capabilities," Wilson said. "They've learned quite rudely that the
separatists have more advanced weapons."
Separatists have used a version of
Russia's Grad rocket that the Russian military only started using in January,
Wilson said, citing sources in "U.S. government circles."
"This is not older, former
equipment but among the most recent Russian equipment used in the Russian
military," Wilson said, who is now deputy executive vice president at the
Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank.
http://www.usatoday.com/
Malaysia Airlines
has long history, won many awards
The apparent crash Thursday of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is the
second major tragedy this year for the airline, which is still searching for
Flight 370 that vanished March 8.
The country's national carrier flies
about 37,000 passengers aboard 250 departures daily to 80 destinations,
according to the company's website.
It boarded 13 million passengers in
2011, generating revenues of about $4.5 billion, according to the website. That
revenue compares with a smaller airline in the U.S. such as JetBlue Airways for
the same year.
The plane that crashed, a Boeing
777-200, is a similar model to the one that disappeared March 8 with 239 people
aboard on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The search for that flight has
focused on the Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles west of Australia, based on
intermittent signals that a satellite picked up.
Malaysia Airlines' fleet of 88 aircraft
includes Boeing 747-400, 777-200ER, 737-800 and 737-400, as well as Airbus
A330-300, A330-200 and its flagship A380-800.
The airline has won numerous awards from
industry groups Skytrax UK and the World Travel Awards for the quality of its
cabin crews, food and general excellence. World Travel Awards called it the
best airline in Asia in 2013.
Service began between Penang and Singapore, and Malayan Airways
had its first commercial flight as a national airline on April 2, 1947,
according to the company's website. In less than a decade, the airline began
international flights.
The airline changed its name to
Malaysian Airlines Limited with the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Two years
later, with the separation of Singapore, the airline between a bi-national
airline, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. That partnership ended in 1972 and the
airline later was renamed Malaysia Airlines.
Malaysia Airlines became a full member
of the oneworld alliance in February 2013 and is now connected to 850
destinations through that network.
Malaysia Airlines
has long history, won many awards
The apparent crash Thursday of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is the
second major tragedy this year for the airline, which is still searching for
Flight 370 that vanished March 8.
The country's national carrier flies
about 37,000 passengers aboard 250 departures daily to 80 destinations,
according to the company's website.
It boarded 13 million passengers in
2011, generating revenues of about $4.5 billion, according to the website. That
revenue compares with a smaller airline in the U.S. such as JetBlue Airways for
the same year.
The plane that crashed, a Boeing
777-200, is a similar model to the one that disappeared March 8 with 239 people
aboard on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The search for that flight has
focused on the Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles west of Australia, based on
intermittent signals that a satellite picked up.
Malaysia Airlines' fleet of 88 aircraft
includes Boeing 747-400, 777-200ER, 737-800 and 737-400, as well as Airbus
A330-300, A330-200 and its flagship A380-800.
The airline has won numerous awards from
industry groups Skytrax UK and the World Travel Awards for the quality of its
cabin crews, food and general excellence. World Travel Awards called it the
best airline in Asia in 2013.
Service began between Penang and Singapore, and Malayan Airways
had its first commercial flight as a national airline on April 2, 1947,
according to the company's website. In less than a decade, the airline began
international flights.
The airline changed its name to
Malaysian Airlines Limited with the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Two years
later, with the separation of Singapore, the airline between a bi-national
airline, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. That partnership ended in 1972 and the
airline later was renamed Malaysia Airlines.
Malaysia Airlines became a full member
of the oneworld alliance in February 2013 and is now connected to 850
destinations through that network.
