New | What is known about the Malaysian Airlines plane crash in Ukraine
Here is what is known, and what has been claimed, about Thursday’s downing of a Malaysian jetliner carrying 298 people in eastern Ukraine.
THE PLANE
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER on Flight MH17, which the carrier said was carrying 283 passengers, including three infants, and 15 crew members from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. After leaving Amsterdam at 12.51pm local time, the aircraft was due to land at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.10am local time the following day.
THE ROUTE
The route taken by the Malaysian jet appears to have been subject to no flight restrictions, industry group the International Air Transport Association, said, even though Ukrainian military aircraft have been shot down over the area by rebels and it has been the scene of fierce fighting. Eurocontrol, a European air safety organisation, said the plane was apparently flying at approximately 10,000 metres, which was authorised, although Ukrainian authorities had closed the airspace at lower altitudes.
THE CRASH
Malaysia Airlines said it was notified by Ukrainian authorities that they had lost contact with the plane when it was 30 kilometres from the Tamak waypoint, approximately 50 kilometres from the Ukraine-Russia border. Plane-tracking service FlightAware.com said the last reported position for MH17 was at 10,000 metres just west of Ukraine’s border with Russia. Ukrainian authorities reported the crash, and journalists found the site near a village held by pro-Russia fighters 40 kilometres from the Russia border. The reporter said the aircraft appeared to have broken up before impact. Burning wreckage and the belongings of passengers were strewn over a wide area.