Dutch investigators have confirmed that a Russian-made missile shot down MH17.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was an international flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that crashed on July 17, 2014, after being shot down. It crashed in the Donetsk region, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.
Air crash investigators of Dutch Safety Board concluded that it was shot down by a Russian-made 9M38 Buk missile fired from rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
“MH17 crashed as a result of the detonation of a warhead outside the airplane,” Dutch Safety Board Chairman Tjibbe Joustra told reporters Tuesday at Gilze-Rijen air base in the Netherlands. “None of the aviation parties involved recognized the risks posed to civil aviation by the armed conflict on the ground.”
The missile hit the upper left part of the cockpit, specifically. Parts of the aircraft have since been brought back and reconstructed.
National Security Council spokesman Ned Price called the Dutch Safety Board report an “important milestone” in the effort to hold people accountable for the shoot-down of the plane.
“We maintain our support for the work being conducted by the countries of the Joint Investigation Team, and reiterate that the United States will fully support all efforts to bring to justice those responsible,” he said. “Our assessment is unchanged — MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired from separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. The victims and their loved ones remain in our thoughts and prayers.”
The international team of investigators lead by the Dutch Safety Board said it presented its findings to the victims’ relatives first before being made public at 8:15 a.m. Eastern time.
Though the board did not assign blame for the attack, a separate Dutch-led criminal investigation is expected to publish findings in several months.
