Russian Federation appeals to United Nations aviation body to open new MH17 probe

Here is what we learned from the report.

The pilots were killed instantly The blast killed the two pilots and a purser inside the cockpit in an instant, and ripped off the front of the plane.

The blast could have caused structural damage to up to 12.5 metres of the plane.

Relatives of those on the flight were told by investigators their loved ones died nearly instantly.

He also presented an animated video of MH17’s last moments.

The “high-engergy” fragments from missiles were found in the bodies of crew members killed in the cockpit. “It is likely that the occupants were barely able to comprehend their situation”, the board found.

One passenger was found wearing an oxygen mask, but it was “unclear how the mask got there”, raising further questions among those left behind. The board, however, did recommend governments be more cautious in instituting no-fly zones over conflicts.

Prior to the crash, the conflict had extended into the air, increasing the threat to planes.

And they have criticised Ukrainian authorities for failing to close the airspace over the area when there was sufficient reason to do so, as heavy fighting continued between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels.

On the other side, Ned Price, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said the USA remained convinced that the Russian-backed rebels were responsible.

“Any issue of compensation will depend upon holding to account the perpetrators of the crime…I think that being able to identify the perpetrators of the crime would be a precondition to demanding compensation”, she said.

The investigators also looked into the impact of the crash on the passengers and crew, and concluded that a number of them “immediately sustained severe injuries probably causing death”.

A long-awaitedreport from the Dutch Safety Board on the fate of the MH17 airliner was one of the major media events of this week across the world.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The arms manufacturer said that kind of missile is still used by Ukraine’s military and that, in fact, it was launched from Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Its general director Yan Novikov explains that experiments and computer modelling carried out by his company “proved” that the missile that allegedly brought down the Boeing 777 was sacked not from the village of Zaroshchenskoe which was controlled by Ukrainian forces at the time.

He said the plane was hit by pieces from a missile explosion.

So, in the end, the Dutch Safety Board Report seems to have provoked an amibiguous reaction – its findings come with the credibility of a Western Institution but don’t add much new information to what many already believed.