After MH370 another shock MH17

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.

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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.