Russia appeals to UN aviation body to open new MH17 probe

“The total number of high-energy objects (to hit the plane) was well over 800”, the board said, concluding it was consistent with that of a detonation by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile.

“The Russian commission categorically disagrees with the conclusions of the final report.” he said.

The White House called the report an “important milestone in the effort to hold accountable those responsible”. An “expert” on Russian tabloid LifeNews said: “If the Netherlands does not take into account data found by Russia, then the investigation [into flight MH17] is doomed”.

Russian-backed separatists controlled that area, but the report doesn’t address who fired the weapon.

However Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged Russian Federation to fully cooperate with the upcoming criminal investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Hundreds of projectiles hit the plane According to investigators, the missile exploded less than a metre from the upper left hand side of the cockpit, bombarding the plane with fragments travelling at speeds of up to 9,000 km/h. Microphones around the cockpit picked up a “sound peak” in the last milliseconds before the recordings went silent, which allowed analysts to determine where the explosion occurred. All of the passengers and crew members on the plane, include one who was a US citizen, died in the crash. Credit: Hypefresh Mag ” Flight MH17 did not crash as a result of meteor strikes. “We are focused on all possible options for prosecuting those responsible, with a view to securing due punishment for this crime”, he said. Part of that reason was that 16 military aeroplanes and helicopters had been shot down in the weeks before the MH17 crash.

The experimental aircraft’s remains showed a much different submunitions damage pattern than seen on the remnants of MH17, the company said in a statement.

The Dutch-led investigation team had participants from Russian Federation, Ukraine, the United States and three other countries.

Reconstruction of debris from the crash in the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine showed that the Buk missile detonated less than a metre from the cockpit, killing the flight crew instantly and tearing the nose section off the Boeing 777.

Two New Zealanders, 65-year-old Mary Menke and British-born 29-year-old Otaki resident Rob Ayley, were among the 298 killed when MH17 was blown out of the sky on July 17 a year ago on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Joustra said “almost all operators” were flying over Ukraine because no one thought commercial aircraft were at risk at cruising altitude.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin defended his country’s decision not to close its airspace, telling reporters on Tuesday that no-one knew such highly-sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles had been brought into Ukraine. “The Ukraine authorities failed to do so”.

“The wreckage was spread over several sites” near the villages of Grabove, Rozsypne and Ptropavlivka, most of which were in rebel territory, the Dutch report said.