Malaysia Airlines flight MH17: what we know
Map: Ukraine
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine early this morning (AEST), resulting in the deaths of all 298 people on board.
Here is what we know about the doomed flight.
Where was the plane travelling to and from?
Flight MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpar. The Boeing 777 took off at 8:30pm Thursday (AEST) and disappeared from radar 12:15am Friday (AEST).
The plane crashed in eastern Ukraine, close to the border with Russia.
It came down in rebel-held territory. No distress call was issued. Video posted on YouTube appears to show debris raining from the sky and a fireball on the ground.
Infographic: A map shows the path of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing 298 people. (ABC News)
Who was on board?
There were 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.
According to Dutch officials, the breakdown of nationalities on board is as follows:
- 154 Netherlands
- 43 Malaysia
- 27 Australia
- 12 Indonesia
- 9 United Kingdom
- 4 Germany
- 4 Belgium
- 3 Philippines
- 1 Canada
- 43 unverified
DFAT is seeking to confirm the number of Australians on board the flight and says there may have been more than 27.
Was the plane definitely shot down?
It appears to be the case. Ukrainian wire taps appear to have
captured pro-Russian separatists claiming responsibility for downing the jet, but there has been no official confirmation.
US vice president Joe Biden says the aircraft was "blown out of the sky" and it was "not an accident", while Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said the downing of the airliner was an act of terrorism.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament that the plane was shot down, apparently by "Russian-backed rebels".
However, rebels in the region have not officially claimed responsibility.
A pro-Russian separatist leaders in Ukraine's east, Alexander Boradai, blamed the Ukrainian air force.
"The passenger aircraft has been shot down, indeed - shot down by Ukrainian air forces. To tell the truth is a provocation on purpose. In principle this is not the first time for Ukraine to shoot down passenger aircraft," he said.
Did the rebels intend to target the passenger plane?
The wire taps would suggest that they did not.
"They say it's written Malaysia Airlines on the plane. What was it doing on Ukraine's territory?" a militant was recorded as saying.
Aviation expert Andrew Charlton says while a passenger plane looks different from a military aircraft, mistakes can happen.
"It is quite difficult to make the distinction. Aircraft are moving very fast; they're very, very high. At this point it was at 10,000 metres - 33,000 feet. That's a long way up. It's very hard to tell them apart," he said.
How was the plane shot down?
What shot down flight MH17?
Military analysts say a medium-range ground-to-air missile is the weapon most likely to have been used.
Military analysts say a medium-range surface-to-air missile is the weapon most likely to be used to shoot down a passenger airliner.
Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have variants of the Buk, a surface-to-air missile system - including SA-11 and SA-17 missiles - that can hit targets at an altitude of up to 25 kilometres.
Shoulder-launched weapons have been blamed for the downing of several Ukrainian aircraft in recent days, but those attacks occurred at much lower altitudes, analysts said.
"A short-range, shoulder-launched weapon has been responsible for several aircraft lost in the last few days ... but it wouldn't be able to reach an altitude of 30-odd thousand feet," said Edward Hunt, senior defence analyst at IHS Jane's consultancy.
The international reaction: what's next?
The Prime Minister said the Russian ambassador would be called before Foreign Minister Julie Bishop today.
Meanwhile, US president Barack Obama directed US officials to do all they could to support an investigation into what caused the crash. Mr Obama and his Ukrainian counterpart have emphasised that evidence from the crash must remain in Ukraine so international investigators have a chance to look at all of it. The US president is said to have told Putin that the US could impose more sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not take steps to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis.
