MH17 priority is to bring perpetrators to justice, says Dutch PM

JUDY WOODRUFF: In short, as this Dutch animation depicts, a Russian-built missile, identified by shrapnel and paint, blew the Malaysian airliner apart on July 17 a year ago.

“A 9N314M warhead detonated outside the aeroplane to the left side of the cockpit”, the chairman of the safety board, Tjibbe Joustra, told reporters.

The aircraft broke up mid-air and the cockpit and floor of the business class section were instantly torn away from the fuselage and crashed, while the rest of the plane flew for about 8.5 kilometres east.

One passenger was found with an oxygen mask around their neck although it is unclear if they had put it on in a reflex or if it was done by someone on the ground after they were killed.

[Video: This video by the Dutch Safety Board was based mostly on its investigation reports in to the causes of the accident of flight MH17 on Jul. 17, 2014.

The report, released Tuesday, also states that the missile was launched from an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists. The report also did not specify what generation of missile brought down the plane.

This then caused the plane to break up, leaving the remaining 295 people on-board to a harrowing 90-second plunge to their eventual death.

“There was sufficient reason for the Ukrainian authorities to close the air space above the eastern part of their country”, Mr Joustra said.

Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the country is ready to take part in the following investigation into the tragedy.

The pre-emptive refutation of the Dutch report prompted this response from Joustra, according to the Guardian: “It’s always special when people already know that they don’t agree with a report that’s not even published yet”.

The board recommended global aviation rules be changed to force airlines to be more transparent about their choice of routes.

Both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries have BUK missiles in their arsenals.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull welcomed the report from the Dutch Safety Board, while focusing his thoughts on the loved ones of those who died.

The Dutch-led panel, which included investigators from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, did not explicitly assign blame, despite Western suspicions that pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine shot down the plane, mistaking it for a military aircraft.

“All the recommendations from the [International Civil Aviation Organization] were carried out…”

The findings were dismissed by missile maker Almaz-Antey, after a test that “disputes the version of the Dutch”, adding that the damage pointed to the use of an older type of missile.