Hear the Dutch Safety Board's investigation about the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014
Hear the Dutch Safety Board's investigation about the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014
A video released by the Dutch Safety Board in October 2015 summarizing the board's investigation of the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014.
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Transcript
NARRATOR: In the early afternoon of July the 17th, 2014, a Boeing 777-200 of Malaysia Airlines departs Amsterdam Airport Schiphol for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Flight MH17 enters Ukrainian airspace at an altitude of 33,000 feet, following airway L980. The crew diverts a short distance to the north to avoid some thunderstorms when returning to the airway in the eastern part of Ukrainian airspace. In this region, an armed conflict between the Ukrainian government and armed groups is in progress. Therefore, lower levels of the airspace are restricted for civil air traffic.
Flight MH17 is routed above this restricted airspace to waypoint Romeo-November-Delta in the Russian Federation. Until that moment, the flight proceeds normally. When Flight MH17 is above the eastern part of Ukraine, a Buk surface-to-air missile system fires a missile.
It travels almost at three times the speed of sound and carries a 9M314M model warhead. Inside it is an explosive core surrounded by two mantles containing preformed iron fragments. Radar guides it to its target, where it is detonated by means of a proximity fuse. A Buk surface-to-air missile can reach an altitude of 80,000 feet, exceeding the flight altitude of Flight MH17 by far.
At 20 minutes and 3 seconds past 1, this warhead explodes to the left and above the cockpit of MH17. About 800 pre-formed fragments perforate the airplane. This impact, combined with the blast of the explosion, causes the cockpit and the business class section to separate. As it descends, the airplane disintegrates. None of the 298 occupants survived the crash.
The investigation demonstrated that the airplane flew at an altitude of 33,000 feet, which is to say 10.1 kilometers. No abnormalities regarding the airplane or crew were found. The flight proceeded normally, and no malfunctions of any system or aural warnings were recorded. Also, no distress messages were received by air traffic control. Both flight recorders stopped abruptly at 13:20:03. And from that time, the flight crew of MH17 did not respond to air traffic control messages. Flight MH17 disappeared from the radar.
The airplane was perforated by hundreds of high-energy objects shaped like cubes and bow ties. Many fragments were found in the bodies of the crew seated in the cockpit. Some of them had a bow tie or cubic shape. The left side of the cockpit area shows a characteristic damage pattern.
Traces of explosives were found in the wreckage and on the missile fragments found. Paint on fragments found inside the wreckage matches paint on the recovered missile parts. The point of detonation was determined by the spray pattern on the cockpit and by simulations and was confirmed by the recorded sound peak.
The impact and blast resulted in the aeroplanes disintegration. The wreckage of the airplane was distributed over six different sites, consistent with the way the airplane broke up in the air. Based on these findings, the Dutch Safety Board concludes that Flight MH17 was downed by a 9M314M warhead carried on a 9M38 series missile, as installed on a Buk surface-to-air missile system. Other scenarios were investigated and excluded. No other scenario can explain this combination of factors.
T.H.J. JOUSTRA: The findings are conclusive and support each other based on multiple sources. To that end, we have been able to draw well-supported conclusions about the flight and the causes of the crash. Calculations have demonstrated that the missile's trajectory commenced somewhere in a 320-square kilometer area in the eastern part of Ukraine. The Russian Federation concurs with the conclusion that the crash was caused by the detonation of warheads but has reservations regarding the missile and warhead type. However, in our judgment, the arguments in the report overwhelmingly supports the conclusions as presented.
Flight MH17 is routed above this restricted airspace to waypoint Romeo-November-Delta in the Russian Federation. Until that moment, the flight proceeds normally. When Flight MH17 is above the eastern part of Ukraine, a Buk surface-to-air missile system fires a missile.
It travels almost at three times the speed of sound and carries a 9M314M model warhead. Inside it is an explosive core surrounded by two mantles containing preformed iron fragments. Radar guides it to its target, where it is detonated by means of a proximity fuse. A Buk surface-to-air missile can reach an altitude of 80,000 feet, exceeding the flight altitude of Flight MH17 by far.
At 20 minutes and 3 seconds past 1, this warhead explodes to the left and above the cockpit of MH17. About 800 pre-formed fragments perforate the airplane. This impact, combined with the blast of the explosion, causes the cockpit and the business class section to separate. As it descends, the airplane disintegrates. None of the 298 occupants survived the crash.
The investigation demonstrated that the airplane flew at an altitude of 33,000 feet, which is to say 10.1 kilometers. No abnormalities regarding the airplane or crew were found. The flight proceeded normally, and no malfunctions of any system or aural warnings were recorded. Also, no distress messages were received by air traffic control. Both flight recorders stopped abruptly at 13:20:03. And from that time, the flight crew of MH17 did not respond to air traffic control messages. Flight MH17 disappeared from the radar.
The airplane was perforated by hundreds of high-energy objects shaped like cubes and bow ties. Many fragments were found in the bodies of the crew seated in the cockpit. Some of them had a bow tie or cubic shape. The left side of the cockpit area shows a characteristic damage pattern.
Traces of explosives were found in the wreckage and on the missile fragments found. Paint on fragments found inside the wreckage matches paint on the recovered missile parts. The point of detonation was determined by the spray pattern on the cockpit and by simulations and was confirmed by the recorded sound peak.
The impact and blast resulted in the aeroplanes disintegration. The wreckage of the airplane was distributed over six different sites, consistent with the way the airplane broke up in the air. Based on these findings, the Dutch Safety Board concludes that Flight MH17 was downed by a 9M314M warhead carried on a 9M38 series missile, as installed on a Buk surface-to-air missile system. Other scenarios were investigated and excluded. No other scenario can explain this combination of factors.
T.H.J. JOUSTRA: The findings are conclusive and support each other based on multiple sources. To that end, we have been able to draw well-supported conclusions about the flight and the causes of the crash. Calculations have demonstrated that the missile's trajectory commenced somewhere in a 320-square kilometer area in the eastern part of Ukraine. The Russian Federation concurs with the conclusion that the crash was caused by the detonation of warheads but has reservations regarding the missile and warhead type. However, in our judgment, the arguments in the report overwhelmingly supports the conclusions as presented.