MH17: Dutch report to say Russian-made missile hit plane

The Dutch Safety Board, issuing long-awaited findings of its investigation into a crash involving a Malaysian passenger plane over eastern Ukraine, is expected to say it was downed by a Russian-made Buk missile but not say who was responsible for firing it.

MH17 was shot down over territory held by pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine on July 17th, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard, most of them Dutch citizens.

Experts and Western governments believe the rebels shot down the aircraft, possibly mistaking it for a Ukrainian military plane.

Moscow has offered alternative theories, claiming that it might have been shot down by a Ukrainian fighter, or by Ukrainian forces.

Dutch Safety Board director Tjibbe Joustra will present the findings on Tuesday to the victims’ families, then to journalists at a military base in Gilze-Rijen, where parts of the plane have been brought from the crash site and reconstructed.

It is widely expected that the investigation will say the plane was brought down by a Russian-made Buk missile, although under rules governing international flight crash investigations the board does not have the authority to apportion blame.

Carefully worded preliminary findings by the board in September 2014 said the plane had been brought down by “high energy objects from outside the aircraft” - seemingly referring to shrapnel.

Criminal investigation

A separate Dutch-led international criminal investigation is still ongoing, with prosecutor Fred Westerbeke saying he will not rest until those responsible for downing MH17 are brought before a judge.

However, prosecutors cannot issue charges until a court venue has been decided.

In July, Russia vetoed a Dutch proposal at the United Nations to set up an international tribunal into the incident.

The Dutch government is now looking at other alternatives.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday, shortly after the findings are released.

Buk manufacturer Almaz-Antey has scheduled a separate press conference on Tuesday.

Although the main focus of the board’s investigation was the cause of the crash, the agency will also address several other important questions surrounding it.

Among these will be why MH17’s flight path took it over the Ukraine conflict zone.

Ukraine kept its airspace open to passenger flights at an altitude deemed high enough to be safe, but many airlines have routed traffic around the area.

The victims were from the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.

Reuters