Obama: Missile shot down MH17; Malaysia Airlines says Eurocontrol approved route

Obama: Missile shot down MH17; Malaysia Airlines says Eurocontrol approved route

Almasalla,Gate Arab Tourism News-The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER that crashed over Ukraine Thursday, killing all 298 on board, was shot down by a surface-to-air-missile (SAM) from territory controlled by Russian-supporting militants, US President Barack Obama said Friday.
 

“The shot was taken from territory that was controlled by the Russian separatists,” Obama said.
 

Malaysia Airlines, meanwhile, said in a statement that the route for Flight MH17 was approved by Eurocontrol.
 

“MH17’s flight plan was approved by Eurocontrol, who are solely responsible for determining civil aircraft flight paths over European airspace. Eurocontrol is the air navigation service provider for Europe and is governed under ICAO rules,” Malaysia Airlines said.
 

“The route over Ukrainian airspace where the incident occurred is commonly used for Europe to Asia flights. A flight from a different carrier was on the same route at the time of the MH17 incident, as were a number of other flights from other carriers in the days and weeks before.”
 

The airline added that in April, ICAO “identified an area over the Crimean peninsula as risky.” It said that at no point did MH17 fly into, or request to fly into, this area. “At all times, MH17 was in airspace approved by the ICAO.”
 

An IATA spokesman clarified to ATW that individual states, not IATA or ICAO, determine any restrictions on airspace routes.
 

According to the Malaysia Airlines statement, MH17 filed a flight plan requesting to fly at 35,000 ft. throughout Ukrainian airspace, but on entering Ukrainian airspace, was instructed by Ukrainian air traffic control to fly at 33,000 ft.
 

This was just 1,000 ft. higher than a restriction not to fly below 32,000 ft. because of the combat zone below on the Ukraine-Russia border. SAM weapons known to be operating in that area can reach altitudes of 70,000 ft. or higher.

Malaysia Airlines said it is now avoiding Ukrainian airspace entirely, flying further south over Turkey.
 

In an address from the White House Friday, Obama called the deaths of almost 300 people “an outrage of unspeakable proportions.”
 

“Evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine,” he said. “We also know that this is not the first time a plane has been shot down in eastern Ukraine. Over the last several weeks, Russian-backed separatists have shot down a Ukrainian transport plane and a Ukrainian helicopter, and they claimed responsibility for shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet. Moreover, we know that these separatists have received a steady flow of support from Russia. This includes arms and training. It includes heavy weapons. And it includes anti-aircraft weapons.”

Obama called the downing of MH17 “a global tragedy” and called for “a credible international investigation into what happened.”
 

He said the US stands ready to provide any assistance that is necessary in the investigation and that FBI and the NTSB personnel are enroute to the crash site.
 

After the shoot-down, Ukrainian air service provider Uksatse closed air routes in the Dnipropetrovsk flight information region covering the eastern portion of the country. Eurocontrol said it is rejecting all flight plans that include the routes, adding that the European Aviation Crisis Coordination Cell (EACCC) “is being activated to coordinate the response to the impact of the airspace closure.” EACCC was established by the European Commission and Eurocontrol in 2010 to manage crisis responses for the European air traffic management network.

Malaysia Airlines also issued a breakdown of nationalities of those on board, which included:

·         189 Netherlands

·         44 Malaysia (including all 15 crew)

·         27 Australia

·         12 Indonesia

·         9 UK

·         4 Belgium

·         4 Germany

·         3 Philippines

·         1 Canada

·         1 New Zealand

Four passengers’ nationalities remain to be verified; the US State Department said Friday there was at least one American on board.

Source:ATW