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What Is Known (and Not Known) About Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

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Eastern Ukraine map with site MH-17 flight crashed on January 2015 in Kiev, Ukraine
© Sergey Kamshylin/Shutterstock.com

Rumors, conjecture, and conspiracy theories swirl around the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

Here is what is known for sure:

  • Flight 17 was a regularly scheduled 11.5 hour flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • The aircraft was a Boeing wide-body 777-200.
  • The plane took off from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at 10:31 UTC.
  • There were 15 crew and 283 passengers aboard.
  • Of the passengers, 193 were Dutch.
  • The plane flew at an altitude of 33,000 feet (10,000 meters).
  • In Ukraine, over which the plane exploded, Russian-backed separatists and government forces were engaged in combat.
  • As the flight approached the Russian border, there was routine communication between the cabin crew and air traffic controllers on the ground in Ukraine and in Russia.
  • The final verbal communication was received at 13:20.
  • Shortly before 13:26 the aircraft disappeared from radar screens.
  • No distress call was received.
  • Witnesses reported a midair explosion.
  • Rescue workers arrived promptly; there were no survivors.
  • The Dutch Ministry of Defence organized a mission to investigate the incident; it was hindered by the armed conflict in the region.
  • The Ukrainian government produced intercepted audio transmissions in which alleged pro-Russian separatists talked of having shot down a plane.
  • Video evidence surfaced that purported to show rebels combing through the still-smoking wreckage, seemingly dismayed at finding a civilian aircraft.
  • A Dutch-led prosecutorial team presented evidence that a missile was launched toward MH17 from separatist-held territory in Ukraine using weaponry brought in from Russia and returned to that country the next day. 
  • The separatists and their Russian backers have denied culpability.

Here is what is thought to have happened:

  • Researchers concluded that the crash was caused by the detonation of a warhead from a radar-guided missile fired from a Buk (SA-11) surface-to-air system.
  • Bad weather, pilot error, mechanical failure, and onboard fire or explosion were all ruled out during the course of the investigation.
  • The warhead exploded a few feet from the cockpit, propelling hundreds of shrapnel fragments through the fuselage of the aircraft.
  • The cabin crew was killed instantly, and the forward section of the aircraft broke off.
  • The wings, passenger compartment, and tail remained in the air at least a minute longer before separating and dropping to the ground.

Here is the question that remains:

  • What was the motive of those who shot down the plane?