Thread: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 'Shot Down In Ukraine Near Russian Border'

'Shot Down In Ukraine Near Russian Border'
Huffington Post UK By Sara C Nelson
Posted: 17/07/2014 16:28 BST





A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet is reported to have been shot down near the Russia - Ukraine border.

Unconfirmed reports from Interfax news agency say the Boeing 777 was shot down at altitude.

Sources say 280 passengers and 15 crew members were onboard the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

It was reportedly at 32,000ft when it was shot down but it is as yet unconfirmed whether the aircraft was in Russian or Ukrainian airspace.

A Russian aviation industry source has told Reuters that the Malaysia Airlines plane didn't enter Russian airspace at the time it was expected to, and crashed in Eastern Ukraine.

Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor at Ukraine's interior ministry, told Bloomberg it was Ukrainian rebels who shot down the plane.

This afternoon Malaysia Airlines tweeted it had: "lost contact of [sic] of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow."


The flight is understood to have been around four-and-a-half hours into its 11-and-a-half hour journey.


The flight tracker which reportedly shows the flight over Ukraine

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014...tml?1405610947

Allen West - 2 mins : Reports indicate that Russian separatists have shot down a civilian airliner with a Russian provided medium to long range SAM (Surface to Air Missile) system. These separatists have shot down several Ukrainian cargo and troop transport military aircraft. Two hundred and ninety-five innocent people are dead -- and their blood is on the hands of Vladimir Putin. The question is now, what is the global response? So much for tranquility in the global community as WH mouthpiece Josh "Not So" Earnest said. Shall Obama head off for vacation to Martha's Vineyard? God rest the souls of those killed -- this reminds me of the sinking of the British luxury cruise liner Lusitania on May 7, 1915 by a German U-Boat.

A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane with 295 aboard was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Ukraine near the Russian border a day after a Ukrainian military jet was downed, Fox News has confirmed.

The Boeing 777 bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot down at cruising altitude, according to Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Minister. He said all 280 passengers and 15 crew members were killed. A Reuters correspondent near the scene reported seeing burning wreckage and bodies strewn across a nine-mile debris field. A Ukrainian Emergency official told the news agency body parts and at least 100 bodies were seen in the area.

The flight manifest reportedly included the names of 23 Americans, though State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a briefing Thursday, "we don't have any additional details at this point on American citizens" aboard the plane. "Obviously, we're seeking that information as we speak," Psaki said.

The incident touched off immediate finger-pointing between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government. Eastern Ukraine separatist leader Alexander Borodai told Reuters that Ukrainian military forces shot the jet down, but Kiev denied involvement and labeled the incident a "terrorist act."

"The President of Ukraine on behalf of the State expresses its deepest and most sincere condolences to the families and relatives of those killed in this terrible tragedy," said a statement released by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office. "Every possible search and rescue effort is being made."

KT McFarland, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense under President Ronald Reagan, and a Fox News national security analyst said the attack was most likely the work of Russian separatists, not the Russian or Ukrainian armies. “I think it’s far more likely it was rebel forces in eastern Ukraine trying to get the Russian back involved," McFarland said.

But retired Army Lt. Col Ralph Peters, also a Fox News contributor, said it is unlikely the Russian military would have put missile batteries capable of knocking a plane out of the sky at such an altitude in the hands of rebels. "It wasn't the separatists, although Russia will try to blame them, or blame the Ukrainians," Peters said. "The Russians have not given the separatists complex, high-altitude air-defense systems. If this airliner was flying at 34,000 feet or any altitude close to that, it was shot down by Russian military air-defense systems perched on the Ukrainian border."

Peters said the Russian military has been shooting down Ukrainian military aircraft in recent weeks, and most likely mistook the airliner for a Ukrainian military aircraft. "Russia has a small number of elite forces, but most of the Russian military is ill-trained, sloppy and marginally disciplined.," he said. "With no Western response to them shooting down Ukrainian aircraft, they just got trigger happy."

It appeared to be at least the third plane downed in the area since Monday, when a Ukrainian An-26 cargo plane was shot down. Late Wednesday, a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet crashed, though it could not be confirmed if it was shot down. Just before the Malaysia Airlines plane went down, Russian separatists reportedly boasted of shooting down another Ukrainian cargo aircraft.

The airline, which saw one of its fleet disappear over the Indian Ocean in March, confirmed only that "an incident" had occurred involving the Boeing 777. “Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam," read a tweet from the airline. "The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow,” read a tweet from Malaysia Airlines’ account.

Gerashenko wrote on his Facebook page that Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet when it was hit. The missile was believed to have been fired from a Russian Buk launcher. A similar launcher was seen by The Associated Press journalists near the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhne earlier Thursday. The Ukraine military is believed to have the launchers, but the Russian military, which has backed the separatists, has them and also may have given them to separatists.

The Donetsk region government said Thursday's plane crashed near a village called Grabovo, which it said is currently under the control of armed pro-Russian separatists. The area has been a flashpoint to the larger dispute between Ukraine and ethnic Russian separatists. Fighting has intensified in recent months in the region.

Pentagon Spokesman Col. Steve Warren said he was aware of reports of the downed passenger jet in Ukraine,but did not have further information.

A senior White House official said President Obama has been briefed on the incident. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said whether it was intentional or accidental it is an "international incident" when a passenger jet is shot down. McCaul said he believed only a military grade weapon could have downed the plane.

The Boeing jets are equipped with twin Rolls-Royce Trent engines, typically cruises at 35,000 feet at speeds up to 639 miles per hour.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board the Malaysia Airlines airplane lost over Ukrainian airspace, as well as their families and loved ones,” Boeing said in a statement. “Boeing stands ready to provide whatever assistance is requested by authorities.”

On March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, also a Boeing 777 and carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew on a route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared somewhere over the ocean. It has not been found

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07...es-in-ukraine/

Americans Perish in Malaysia Airlines Attack;
Obama Campaigns, Cracks Jokes with Crowd in Delaware
July 17, 2014 By Greg Campbell

As reports flood in about the recent attack on a Malaysia Airlines plane that was shot down over Ukraine, Americans look for answers and await information concerning the murder of 295 people on board, including 23 Americans.

Meanwhile, President Obama has carefully dodged the topic in order to campaign for increased infrastructure spending in Delaware.

The Ukraine interior ministry claims that the plane, a Boeing 777, was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile and the Pentagon has revealed that they believe that the plane, Flight MH17, was shot down by Russian separatists in the region. Reportedly, Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin engaged in a brief call regarding the crash.

The situation could have longstanding consequences as Russia has continued to assert dominance in Ukraine, despite meager whimpers of protest emanating from the Obama Administration. With 23 Americans having been on board, it seems clear that the United States will have a vested interest in learning who was responsible for the unprovoked attack. A similar situation occurred in 1915 when the RMS Lusitania was sunk by either a German U-Boat or a mine. On board the British ship were 159 Americans of which 124 died.

The incident rapidly turned international sentiment against the Germans and aided in the ultimate decision for the United States to enter the war against Germany. While the world tuned-in to learn about the attack on MH17 in the aftermath of the attack, President Obama casually dined at The Charcoal Pit in Wilmington, Delaware, ordering a cheeseburger and fist-bumping patrons in a jovial fashion.

Soon after, Obama spoke to a crowd at Wilmington about the attack for a total of 38 seconds before switching to an upbeat tempo and campaigning. Speaking to the crowd, Obama remarked that “the world is watching reports” of the crash and “it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. Right now we are working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority.”

After glossing-over the tragedy that reportedly took the lives of 23 Americans, Obama shifted his tempo to “hoot-and-holler” mode and began with his all-too-typical, faux-folksy charm by telling the crowd, “It is great to be in the state that gave us Joe Biden!”

With the blasting of MH17 from the sky by what Ukraine claims to be Russian separatists, it’s clear that Obama’s foreign policy of appeasement mixed with voice-cracking threats of sanctions is not cutting it.

In fact, just last month, Obama proudly proclaimed that with Russia on the warpath, with the U.S.-funded Hamas terrorist organization threatening annihilation of Israel and ISIS dominating Iraq, “The world is less violent than it has ever been.”

What this administration will do in the face of this outrage remains to be seen, but it’s clear that this might be a dramatic ratcheting of Russian-American tensions.



http://www.tpnn.com/2014/07/17/ameri...d-in-delaware/

"Right now we are working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority.”

So - this means that I am better equipped and more informed ( with Google and Bing on my side ) then the POTUS ???

Malaysia crash shares anniversary with TWA Flight 800
Glenn O'Neal, USA TODAY 1:29 p.m. EDT July 17, 2014

Oddly, today's crash of a Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shares a date with another major airline disaster, the crash of TWA Flight 800 over Long Island on July 17, 1996.

The plane was flying from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Paris when it exploded near Long Island, killing all 230 people aboard. Terrorism was initially suspected, and a number of witnesses on shore came forward with accounts of seeing a flare, rocket or "streak of light" headed toward the plane before the explosion.

After a four-year investigation, however, the NTSB determined that a fuel tank explosion — sparked by a short circuit in the wiring — caused the crash. The safety board found that witnesses were vague or imprecise in their recollections.

The FBI also conducted an investigation, and it did not find evidence of a crime.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel...sary/12784535/

My husband worked with a woman who died along with her husband and son on Flight 800; we also attended Lamaze classes at the same time... our sons were only weeks apart.

Presidents Reagan & Obama Address America on Russians Shooting Down Passenger Airliners

On September 5th, 1983, then President Ronald Reagan addressed the American public after the Soviets shot down Korean airliner KAL 007.

“My fellow Americans, I’m coming before you tonight about a Korean airline massacre. The attack by the Soviet Union against 269 innocent men, women, and children aboard an unarmed Korean passenger plane. This crime against humanity must never be forgotten.”

Compare the former president’s strong response to the current president’s line about the Malaysian airliner MH17 reportedly shot down by the Russians, believed to have killed 280 passengers and 15 crew:

“It is wonderful to be back in Delaware. Before I begin, obviously the world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia-Ukraine border. It looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. Right now we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority.”

President Obama then returned to his prepared statement on pitching more shovel-ready jobs to Americans. The contrast couldn’t be anymore clear.


http://www.ijreview.com/2014/07/1581...ger-airliners/

Athlete, football supporters, vacationing family among Flight 17 victims
Friday, July 18, 2014 - 1:45pm By Thom Patterson, Zoe Li and Casey Tolan- CNN

(CNN) -- A nun, an international athlete and a family traveling on summer vacation. The victims aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 came from around the world and held a wide range of hopes and dreams. Their stories are being shared online, in traditional media and among friends and loved ones of passengers aboard the Boeing 777, which was shot down Thursday over Ukraine. On Friday, President Obama told reporters that an American, Quinn Lucas Schansman, was aboard. His Facebook page said he was a student at International Business School Hogeschool van Amsterdam.

Another passenger, Karlijn Keijzer, 25, was a champion rower from Amsterdam who had showed much passion and leadership in the U.S. as a member of the team at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The blond Dutch chemistry student with an infectious smile left behind a team of friends, many of whom will remember her for a lifetime. "She was so intelligent and such a hard worker. But rowing was her passion," said teammate Kelly Bainbridge. Keijzer rowed on the team's fastest boat crew, where she showed leadership and a technique that Bainbridge described as "pristine."

Her accomplishments included racing in the European Rowing Junior Championships in 2006 and the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2007. She was driven and a hard worker, but she never lost sight of who she was, friends said. In the gym during weight training, "if someone was having a tough day, she would give them a pat on the back," said Bainbridge. She also had a refreshing sense of humor. With a tip of the hat to Indiana's farmland culture, Keijzer showed up at a team party dressed as an ear of corn.

"I feel like so much of the media coverage focuses on nationalities," Bainbridge said. This tragedy, she said, transcends that. "For us it wasn't about where you're from. We were like family."

Three additional victims of Flight 17 were a family traveling home to the Philippines. Irene Gunawan, 54, and her children Sheryl Shania Gunawan, 15; and Darryl Dwight Gunawan, 20 were on a summer vacation. The youngest was a high school student, family friend Peter Overbeeke told ABS CBN News.

"They were a very sweet family," he said. Describing them as "harmonious," "peaceful" and "successful."

A 77-year-old teacher and Roman Catholic nun, Sister Philomene Tiernan, also was among Flight 17's passengers, according to Australia's Kincoppal - Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart. The school principal described Tiernan as "wonderfully wise and compassionate."

In the UK, the Newcastle United football team announced that two of its "most loyal supporters," John Alder and Liam Sweeney, had died aboard the plane. The two were lifelong supporters and followers of Newcastle. Sweeney volunteered as a steward on fan buses to away games and the two were familiar to thousands of fans and staff, the club told Sky Sports. They were en route to New Zealand to join the team for a tour.

Other victims include a revered AIDS researcher en route to an International AIDS Conference scheduled to begin this weekend in Melbourne, Australia. Prominent Dutch scientist Joep Lange was a pioneer in HIV research and a former president of the International AIDS Society, which organizes the conference. His partner, Jacqueline van Tongeren, was also on the flight, says the Health[e] Foundation, co-founded by Lange. "He was a real hardcore scientist, but on the other hand, he really had the heart of an activist. He was quite bold and a little bit of a troublemaker," said Albert Wu, professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Wu had helped Lange plan the 1991 AIDS conference.

Lange "was one of the first people to advocate spreading HIV medications to Africa," says Wu. At the time, the medication wasn't being delivered because of refrigeration problems. "He said, 'If Coca-Cola can deliver cold beverages to Africa, why can't we deliver HIV medication?' And he helped make it happen," recalls Wu.

'Wonderful person'

The Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed in a rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, spurring swift accusations from Ukrainian officials that "terrorists" shot down the aircraft. Ukrainian security services have released a recording of an intercepted telephone conversation between soldiers that Ukraine says proves rebels are to blame.

The U.S. has concluded a missile shot down the plane but hasn't pinpointed who was responsible, a senior U.S. official told CNN's Barbara Starr.

The identities of the 298 passengers on board MH17 have not been released by the airline. Meanwhile, friends and family of passengers have expressed grief and shock through social media; among them are people who knew attendees of the AIDS conference.

The World Health Organization was also able to confirm to CNN that their employee Glenneth Thomas was on board and heading to the Conference. Thomas' friend Gina Manola told CNN that he was "a brave, curious person, adventurous. And a lot of people I think were drawn to him. He was a really wonderful person doing great work in the world," adding that he was planning his 50th birthday celebration.

In a statement, the WHO expressed its condolences to Thomas' family, friends and colleagues and quoted his twin sister saying "he died doing what he loved." "He will be greatly missed by those who had the opportunity to know him and work with him," it said.

Malaysia Airlines was able to give a breakdown of the known nationalities of the passengers: At least 173 were Dutch, 28 were Australians, 28 were Malaysians, 12 were Indonesian, nine were from the United Kingdom, four were from Germany; four were from Belgium, three were from the Philippines, one was Canadian and one was from Hong Kong.

Authorities are still trying to determine the nationalities of the other passengers.

At least one passenger was from Hong Kong, the city's Immigration Department confirmed with local media on Friday afternoon.

'I wait for you'

The 15 crew members on board were all Malaysian nationals, officials said. One of them was Shazana Salleh. Her best friend, Carmen Low Kar Marn, recalls driving to the airport before the flight. "I just sent (Salleh) to the airport and then I just said 'I wait for you to come back' and (she) never come back," Low told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

When asked if the loss of her best friend seemed real to her, Low replied through tears: "I just hope it is a false. I try to message her, but no answer."

Other travelers who were fortunate enough to miss the tragic flight are still in shock. "I'm shaking ... I didn't know what to do ... I'm feeling physically sick," says a woman carrying her baby at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. She was supposed to be on MH17 but had just missed it. "I was coming to the airport in a taxi, just crying, I feel that I have been given a second chance."

'Go fly with the angels'

A public Facebook forum for cabin crew has begun collecting messages of condolence and grief from people working in the airline industry, including some posters who said they were colleagues of those who perished on MH17.

"RIP, flight attendants don't die, they just fly higher," posted Ryan Hardy.

Another, identified as Suraya ShaBi Alhussaini said: "Those crews were all my colleagues its the saddest year ever for us in Malaysia airlines ..."

As of 5:30 a.m. E.T. (0930 GMT) a posting expressing support for the cabin crew of MH17 had been shared more than 6,400 times and been "liked" by more than 8,700 Facebook members.

Laurie Powell commented on the posting: "This industry is SO big and impersonal, yet at times like this we remember we're all one big family! RIP dear colleagues of MH17!"

Fiona Silverman added: "To those left behind ... this must seem unfair beyond comprehension. To lose colleagues twice within a few months of each other. How does one heal from such a loss? In time you do, but with deep scars."

In another comment, Helen Chay-Nelson wrote: "So sad. ... You all have now earned your wings. Now go fly with the angels!"

http://www.nbc33tv.com/news/athlete-football-supporte

Russia's Ministry Of Defence Tells A Very Different Story About What Happened To Doomed Plane
The Huffington Post UK Posted: 22/07/2014 09:14 BST Updated: 1 hour ago

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014...tml?1406016892

Ukraine Rebels Shoot Down Another Two Jets As Donetsk Fighters Target Military Planes
The Huffington Post UK | By Jessica Elgot
23/07/2014 13:06 BST

Ukraine's defence ministry says two of its military fighter jets have been shot down in the east of the country, less than a week after a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was destroyed by rebel fighters in the country's east.

The Sukhoi-25 fighters, referred to by NATO as 'Frogfoot', were shot down at around 1.30pm local time Wednesday, and are believed to have crashed over the Savur Mogila hilltop area, in the Donetsk region, less than 20miles from the site of the MH17 crash on Thursday. Savur Mogila is a burial mound, with a permanent memorial to ambushes by the Soviet army on Nazi occupiers.

Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky told the Associated Press the planes may have been carrying up to two crew members each.

Igor Strelkov, a rebel commander, said the separatists had brought down just one plane and that the pilot had ejected, but did not elaborate.

A pro-Russian rebel website, icorpus.ru, has posted a video of what it says is the burning remains of the downed fighter jet. Smoking pieces of charred metal can be seen on the scrubland, as small fires burn around it. Rebel fighters, wielding rifles, some with their faces caked in mud and wearing sleeveless camouflage attire, walk around the wreckage.

The fighting between pro-Russia separatists and the Ukrainian army has intensified since the disaster last Thursday, when rebels brought down the packed passenger plane, killing almost 300 civilians, including holidaymakers and AIDS researchers.

On Wednesday, it was reported that the Ukrainian army had forced the militants back toward the centre of the city of Donetsk, the rebel stronghold, and that militants had begun to dig trenches outside the university dormitories.

Reuters reported that more people had been killed in eastern region of Luhansk, another rebel base, where shelling killed a fire at a chemical base. The news agency quoted local health officials as saying 432 people have been killed and 1,015 wounded since hostilities started.

The attack comes as the black box flight recorders from the downed Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane have arrived for analysis by UK crash investigators.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) will now go through the information from the cockpit voice recorder which will give them two hours of pilots' conversations as well as studying the contents of the flight data recorder.

Bodies from the crash site were arriving in Netherlands where the country's king and queen were taking part in a national day of mourning. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are in Eindhoven with relatives of the 298 people - including 10 Britons - killed in the disaster.

An unconfirmed number of bodies were released by the rebels yesterday and taken to the Ukrainian government-controlled city of Kharkiv by train.

Two military aircraft will fly some of them to Eindhoven this afternoon, where they will be met by the royals, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and relatives.

The Netherlands government said a minute's silence will be held before a motorcade takes them to the Korporaal van Oudheusden barracks, where the process of identifying them will begin.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014...tml?1406117210

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was Shot Down by Russian-Made Missile
John S. Roberts
October 11, 2015

Malaysia Airlines has made headlines in recent years for very bad reasons.

On March 8, 2014, one of their planes with 239 aboard seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

Then, just months later, 298 lost their lives after the aircraft crash landed because it was shot down.

Now, this…

From NY Post http://www.youngcons.com/breaking-ma...-made-missile/
via WZ: http://www.youngcons.com/breaking-ma...-made-missile/

A 15-month investigation by Dutch authorities into doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has determined a Russian-made missile shot the plane down over Ukraine and killed all 298 people on board.

The findings by the Dutch Safety Board will be unveiled Tuesday, according to a report from The Sunday Times of London.

Dutch investigators studied shrapnel from the July 17, 2014, crash, plus statements from separatists, images of a Buk missile launcher in the area and intelligence phone records.

They concluded that separatist rebels, using weapons provided by Russia, hit the Boeing 777, believing it to be a Ukrainian warplane.

Wow.

All those civilian lives gone, because the plane was believed to be “a Ukrainian warplane.”

Where are the calls by liberals to ban missiles? Isn’t the missile at fault here?

http://www.youngcons.com/breaking-ma...-made-missile/