Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (flight number MH17 and codeshared with KLM Flight KL4103) was a scheduled international Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. On 17 July 2014, between 16:20 and 16:25 Ukrainian local time, the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, registration 9M-MRD, crashed on this route. All 298 occupants, including 80 children and 15 crew members, were killed. The debris came down near the city of Tores in eastern Ukraine, scattered over an area of 35 square kilometers.

According to the findings of the technical investigation, the aircraft was shot down by a Russian-made Buk M1 anti-aircraft missile. Debris from the mobile guided missile was identified at the launch site by the Russian manufacturer Almas-Antei on 2 June 2015. Both the recovery work and the investigation were complicated by the hostilities in eastern Ukraine, during which the missile had been fired.

According to the international criminal investigation, the Buk missile came from the 53rd Air Defense Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk. From there, the guided missile was transported to Ukraine to a field controlled by pro-Russian rebels near Pervomaisky, where it was fired, and the launcher was brought back to Russia on the same day. The transport and return of the launcher occurred in a convoy of vehicles belonging to the Russian Armed Forces. The investigation team identified about 100 people involved in the transport of the launcher and its firing.

The countries of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) agreed to seek a UN tribunal. Eleven countries in the UN Security Council voted in favour of a UN tribunal on 29 July 2015; Russia vetoed it. After Russia blocked the establishment of a special tribunal, the alleged perpetrators are to be tried in the Netherlands.

The incident is one of the ten most serious aviation disasters in terms of the number of victims. Moreover, it is both the most victimized crash in Ukraine and of the Boeing 777 aircraft type. For Malaysia Airlines it was - after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March 2014 - the second total loss within a few months.

Airplane

The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, with aircraft registration 9M-MRD and serial number 28411, was the 84th Boeing 777 produced. After its maiden flight on 17 July 1997, it was delivered to Malaysia Airlines on 29 July 1997. The aircraft was thus in service for 17 years until its crash. It was equipped with two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines and 282 seats for passengers. The last major overhaul (D-check) took place in 2013; the aircraft returned to service on November 16. According to Malaysia Airlines, the last inspection took place on 11 July 2014 at Kuala Lumpur Airport, while the Dutch Air Accident Investigation Authority (OVV) cited 16 April as the date of the last minor inspection (A-check). The next maintenance was scheduled for August 27, 2014. According to the operator, the aircraft was in perfect condition; the outbound flight to Amsterdam was without technical problems. In total, the aircraft had flown 75,322 hours on 11,434 flights. The investigation also found no irregularities in the operations during the aircraft's layover in Amsterdam.

Passengers and crew

There were 298 people on board: 283 passengers and 15 Malaysian crew members. The four pilots of the long-haul crew were 50-year-old Wan Amran Bin Wan Hussin and 45-year-old Eugene Choo Jin Leong (captains) and 29-year-old Ahmad Hakimi Bin Hanapi and 27-year-old Muhamad Firdaus Bin Abdul Rahim (co-pilots).

Six of the passengers, including AIDS researcher Joep Lange and his partner and collaborator Jacqueline van Tongeren, were on their way to the 20th World AIDS Conference in Melbourne. Also on the plane were Dutch Socialist MP Willem Witteveen, his wife and daughter. Also among the victims were the Australian writer Liam Davison and the Malaysian theatre and film actress Shuba Jaya, who died with her husband Paul Goes and their child.