Malaysian Airlines MH 17: Dutch Report Indicates Boeing 777 Jet Was Shot From The Ground

A report by the Dutch Safety Board, released on Tuesday, on the cause of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17's crash on June 17 attributed the aviation mishap to a "large number of high-energy objects" that entered the Boeing 777 jet's fuselage.

It said there were no signs that the crash was due to a technical fault or actions of the crew, Reuters reports. The board also noted the lack of distress message and failure to respond to he calls of flight controllers.

"No aural warnings of alerts of aircraft system malfunctions were heard on the cockpit voice recording, which ended at 13.20:03 hrs ... Crew communication gave indication that there was anything abnormal with the flight," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted the report.

There was neither a mention of a missile, but an expert said the impact that the high-energy objects are consistent with a warhead that is designed to explode in the air and throw shrapnel at its target.

Tim Ripley, defense analyst of Jane's Weekly magazine, said that kind of warhead could fit several types of missiles, including the BUK surface-to-air missile that is speculated to have been used by Russian-backed Ukrainian rebels.

In response to the preliminary report, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said it affirms widely held suspicions that it was a surface-to-air missile that could have hit MH17 and caused it to crash, killing all 298 people on board the ill-fated plane. However, he admitted that further investigation is needed.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed, saying, "We need to be careful not to draw conclusions too quickly ... The Netherlands is leading an investigation. Step-by-step, the experts are working to reach irrefutable conclusions." About two-thirds of the aircraft's passengers were Dutch.

The board is expected to issue its final report at the earliest by mid-2015, although The Netherlands is holding a separate probe into the possibility of laying criminal charges against those responsible for the second air tragedy to hit the embattled Malaysia Airlines four months after MH 370 disappeared with 329 people on board while on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8.

The tragedy could have been averted had the flight crew stuck to its flight plan approved by air traffic control centres, but it changed course over Ukraine to avoid thunderstorms - but it was instead hit by high-energy objects.

Ukraine had proposed that an international team made up of representatives from Australia, The Netherlands and Malaysia should be given early safe access to the MH 17 crash site, but Malaysian Defence Minister Hishamuddin Hussein pointed out on Monday that the area is volatile and not accessible now.

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