- 6/5/2025
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00We're clear to Russia.
00:09A commercial airliner goes down over a war zone in eastern Ukraine.
00:14Nearly 300 innocent lives were taken.
00:17So there has to be a credible international investigation.
00:20There was a lot of speculation that the aircraft was shot down.
00:24But you want facts.
00:26Investigators are determined to get answers.
00:29For the families of the 298 victims.
00:35It was very important to explain what had happened.
00:38There were so many people whose lives were destroyed by this crash.
00:43But they face roadblocks at every turn.
00:46One of the first things you do is the security of the wreckage area.
00:51And this was not possible here.
00:53How can we conduct an investigation without seeing the wreckage?
00:59D-D-D-D.
01:03Cool. Up.
01:05I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing the wreckage.
01:09I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing the wreckage.
01:11I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing the kids.
01:12And eating a proper home cooked meal.
01:17Do you have any other plans for the weekend?
01:18Absolutely nothing.
01:19It just sounds perfect.
01:21Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is two and a half hours.
01:22Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is two and a half hours.
01:26into an eleven and a half hours.
01:27From Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
01:28From Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
01:29I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing the kids.
01:30I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing the kids.
01:31I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing the kids.
01:33And eating a proper home cooked meal.
01:34Do you have any other plans for the weekend?
01:35Absolutely nothing.
01:36It just sounds perfect.
01:37Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is two and a half hours.
01:38Into an eleven and a half hour trip from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
01:47The cabin is filled to capacity with two hundred and eighty-three passengers on board.
02:06All done?
02:08Are you bringing the drink card again soon?
02:11Of course.
02:12What can I get you?
02:13I'll have a beer please.
02:15The most are Dutch tourists planning to connect to vacation spots in Australia, Thailand and Indonesia.
02:22European travelers on holiday would have been the preponderance of the folks on board.
02:27Certainly there were some business people.
02:29But for the large share of the passengers it was people on vacation.
02:34MH17's scheduled flight path takes it across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Bay of Bengal.
02:42Before reaching Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.
02:49The weather is likely ahead.
02:57Can we get around it?
02:58Captain Eugene Chu Jin Leong has been flying for Malaysia Airlines for 24 years.
03:07His first officer, Mood Ferdas Abdul Rahim is a promising new addition to the airline.
03:13Dnipro, okay to track two zero miles left for weather?
03:18Malaysia one summit.
03:19Okay, clear to avoid.
03:20Roger.
03:21Malaysia one seven.
03:22The first officer is being groomed to become a captain.
03:28So generally speaking in a cockpit, it is not unusual to have a captain with a large amount of flight experience as compared to that of the first officer.
03:38They're piloting a Boeing 777, one of the safest planes in the world.
03:45The 777 is also very fuel efficient, making it a popular choice for long haul flights like this one.
03:53Is Malaysia five or six hours ahead?
04:00Guess I'll find out when we get there.
04:07We could make up time if we move to 340.
04:10If it gets to there faster, then why not?
04:11Now flying in Ukrainian airspace.
04:15Malaysian one seven.
04:16Is level 340 nonstandard available?
04:20The pilots request permission to climb a thousand feet where they can fly faster to make up time.
04:30The skies over Ukraine are busy today.
04:34The local controller is not able to grant the Malaysian pilots request.
04:38Malaysia one seven.
04:41Three four zero is not available.
04:44Roger.
04:45Maintain three three zero.
04:47Well, we tried.
04:50We'll make it up over Russia.
04:52Looks like clear sailing from here.
04:55The controllers, both on the Russian side and Ukrainian side, were still handling traffic off to each other.
05:00So, despite the threat, the comments are still in progress.
05:11To point Romeo November Delta.
05:14Perfect. Thank you.
05:15The Ukrainian controller gets word from his Russian counterpart.
05:19MH 17 is cleared to the next radar point.
05:22Malaysia one seven. Proceed direct to point Romeo November Delta.
05:28Romeo November Delta.
05:31Malaysian one seven.
05:33We're clear to Russia.
05:35The crew had just transmitted a nominal air traffic control transmission.
05:39They were not aware of any threat at that point.
05:41It was routine and mundane.
05:42Here you go.
05:43Thank you very much.
05:48Here you go.
05:49Thank you very much.
05:50Malaysia one seven.
05:51Deeper radar, please come in.
05:52Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 has fallen off radar.
05:53Malaysia one seven. Deeper radar, please come in.
05:54Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 has fallen off radar.
05:55Malaysia one seven.
05:56Malaysia one seven. Deeper radar, please come in.
06:05Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17 has fallen off radar.
06:17Malaysia one seven.
06:18has fallen off radar malaysia 17 didn't need the radar here please come in
06:28the air traffic controller makes a call to report the disappearance
06:48so
07:13so
07:18That's yours.
07:27Kars Bohmkiss is a senior Dutch investigator.
07:31The first time that I heard about the accident was when we arrived at our holiday place in Spain.
07:41Oh, no.
07:43My first reaction when I saw the news was, of course, disbelief.
07:46There's been an accident. I have to go back.
07:52I thought, how is it possible that a passenger aircraft ending up like this?
08:00Fires burn in eastern Ukraine, where Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 fell from the sky.
08:08Around the world, reaction is swift.
08:13Nearly 300 innocent lives were taken.
08:16Men, women, children, infants, who had nothing to do with the crisis in Ukraine.
08:25Their deaths are an outrage of unspeakable proportions.
08:30The news hits especially hard in the Netherlands.
08:37193 victims were Dutch.
08:42When I turned the news on at home, some of the first pictures on TV were of Dutch passports that had been found in the fields.
08:48And that moved me quite a bit at the time.
08:50It became clear to me how big the disaster was.
08:54It was a tragic event for the Dutch people.
08:57And certainly, emotionally, I'm sure it took its toll.
09:00The Dutch safety board has already mobilized an air accident team.
09:06Even with the immediate speculation that the aircraft was shot down, investigators have important questions to answer.
09:24They need to understand why a passenger plane was flying over a war zone.
09:31And most importantly, they need to bring home as much evidence as possible for Dutch families who've lost loved ones.
09:38In this investigation, it was very important to explain what had happened.
09:46There were so many people whose lives were destroyed by this crash.
09:54Hello.
09:55The Dutch safety board is located in The Hague.
09:59They set up another office in Kiev to help Ukrainian investigators.
10:03What's the status, sir?
10:04Yeah, I'm settled in the operations center.
10:07But there's been a change.
10:09The Dutch team soon discovers that its role will be larger than expected.
10:14Ukraine.
10:15They've asked us to lead the investigation.
10:20With suggestions from all sides that the downing of MH17 was intentional,
10:25they have inherited a difficult situation.
10:30These are from the crash sites.
10:31There was a lot of speculation in the media that the aircraft was shot down.
10:37But as an investigator, you want facts.
10:40Speculation clouds the mind.
10:43Finding answers won't be easy.
10:4617 crashed right in the heart of the disputed area, in the region of Donetsk.
10:53This site looks like another farm.
10:56They're all in the eastern part of Ukraine.
10:57Investigators are worried about how they can conduct their work in the middle of a war zone.
11:05Here.
11:08That makes six crash sites.
11:11Wreckage is scattered over a 19 square mile area.
11:15We know one thing for sure.
11:17This was an in-flight breakup.
11:19When we looked at the photos, we saw that they were spread out over a big area.
11:27So that meant that it had been an in-flight breakup instead of a crash.
11:32Hello.
11:32This is the DSB.
11:34How soon can we get to the crash sites?
11:36To find out what caused the breakup, Dutch investigators need to see the wreckage.
11:41I'm sorry, I don't understand.
11:47What's impossible?
11:49They can't get access to the crash site.
11:51They're still in a complex negotiation process with government authorities and local officials.
11:58What'd they say?
11:59Change of plan.
12:01We can't go.
12:02During a normal investigation, one of the first things you do is the security of the wreckage area.
12:08And this was not possible here.
12:10How can we conduct an investigation without seeing the wreckage?
12:18Days after the crash of MH17 in eastern Ukraine, Dutch investigators are nowhere to be seen.
12:27Without access to the wreckage, they risk losing crucial evidence.
12:35It's important that the pieces of wreckage remain undisturbed.
12:38They are silent witnesses.
12:41Pieces of wreckage tell you what happened.
12:43A total picture of all the wreckage together gives you a total story.
12:46Despite the setback, the Dutch team refuses to let any speculation about the crash affect their investigation.
12:59Best bet, it was shot down.
13:05Proving it without any wreckage is nearly impossible.
13:08They may be able to disprove other theories being floated in the media, speculation that flight MH17 may have encountered severe weather, or a technical malfunction, or some other rare calamity.
13:22Okay, let's start eliminating other possibilities, and we'll see what we're left with.
13:27We started from square one, and we looked at all the possibilities, one by one, in a very structural manner.
13:36Okay, let's zoom into the crash area.
13:39We had to do this because we were not assured that we could ever go there, so we thought everything we can find about this crash site we need together.
13:49Okay, this is MH17's intended flight path.
13:52Now, this is the weather at the time of the crash.
13:58Well, what about lightning?
14:00Let's check the ATC reports.
14:02Let's check the ATC reports.
14:09Oh, look here.
14:11This is their intended path, right into the storm.
14:15But they requested a deviation.
14:19The crew circumnavigated the thunderstorm, which is a normal operational action.
14:25They bypassed the storm.
14:29It wasn't lightning.
14:31Anything in the maintenance records?
14:34We chose to follow the normal procedures that we use in an investigation, so that means that you check the maintenance of the aircraft,
14:42if there had been repairs that perhaps could have influenced the plane on this flight.
14:50These are some of the cleanest occurrence reports I've seen.
14:53The technical log's the same.
14:56This was a well-maintained airplane.
15:00We didn't find any worthiness or maintenance factors that could have factored in the investigation.
15:09They even look into the remote possibility that MH17 was hit by a meteor.
15:15If it was brought down by a meteor, this is how we'll know.
15:19Ultra noise from the day of the crash.
15:22Ultra noise is a distinct sound wave that can be measured when a meteor decelerates as it enters the Earth's upper atmosphere.
15:30It could happen once every 60,000 years.
15:35It is possible, except not this time.
15:39There was no meteor activity that day at all.
15:43Three possible causes, no likely explanations for what brought down MH17.
15:50Those were all excluded because of the evidence we found.
15:54It did not match the expected evidence you would see with these kind of possible causes.
16:00A few days later, the investigation gets a break.
16:09Ukraine have recovered the black boxes and handed them over to Malaysian authorities.
16:14It's a major development.
16:17For every aviation accident, flight data recorder and cockpit force recorder are very important.
16:23In this case, they were, I would say, extremely important.
16:28The black boxes could hold vital clues to what caused the fatal crash.
16:35The Malaysians transfer them to the Dutch safety board.
16:39The critical devices are then sent to the United Kingdom for analysis.
16:44We could download the information from recorders in the Netherlands,
16:48but we don't have the sophisticated instruments that they have.
16:53A few days later, the investigation takes another turn.
16:58Everybody ready?
17:00Clearance is finally granted to visit the crash sites.
17:04The moment we got permission to go to the crash site,
17:07we worked out a plan with the goal of gathering pieces of wreckage,
17:10carrying out some local investigative work,
17:13and then taking the wreckage back to the Netherlands for further investigation.
17:19Off we go.
17:20But then, yet another change of plan.
17:24Hello.
17:26You can't be serious.
17:28The crash is changing on a daily basis.
17:30Our safety couldn't be guaranteed.
17:35You can't enter an area without permission.
17:37And that goes against your nature, because you want to achieve your goal.
17:43And the difficulty here, of course, was that we were in another country
17:47with a wreckage we had no access to.
17:50That was an extra challenge, I can tell you that.
17:53In the Dutch city of Eindhoven, the first remains of flight MH17's victims have returned home.
18:05The pressure on the Dutch safety board is about to intensify.
18:08What we want!
18:11Nazi!
18:12What we want!
18:13Nazi!
18:14What we want!
18:15Nazi!
18:16The families that lost other family members,
18:18crew members that were aboard the aircraft,
18:20they want the answer, they want some kind of resolution,
18:23so that they can put this horrible, tragic event behind them.
18:27They want more than the mere facts.
18:29They want something to help them put this issue to rest.
18:32While investigators have still not seen any physical wreckage,
18:37they do now have access to the flight recorder analysis.
18:43So not a single warning.
18:45Everything's fine, and then it just stops.
18:48Unfortunately, the FDR data gives them nothing new to go on.
18:54According to the flight data recorder data,
18:56we're looking at an aircraft that was flying straight in level.
19:02There were no malfunctions recorded,
19:04and the aircraft systems and the engine system functioned normally,
19:09until the recorder just stopped abruptly.
19:13Investigators hope the cockpit voice recorder will provide something more.
19:19Romeo, November Delta.
19:21Malaysian 1-7.
19:23Listening to a CVR recording is not an easy thing to do,
19:28because you listen to voices and you know that within minutes or seconds
19:34those people were fatally injured.
19:37On the other hand, that's what you need to do, that's your job.
19:44We're clear to Russia.
19:46Nothing after that?
19:47There were no conversations about emergencies or failures or any other risks that they were discussing.
19:56It was a completely normal conversation.
20:00So what time does it end?
20:05The exact same time the FDR cuts out.
20:07The timing tells them that whatever happened to flight MH17, it was extremely sudden.
20:14With the instantaneous and combined failure of both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder,
20:21that's indicative of loss of electric power simultaneously,
20:24which is analogous generally with a catastrophic event.
20:29Investigators suspect that the plane was likely brought down by either a bomb or a missile.
20:35Wait.
20:38Play it again.
20:40They wonder if any clues can be uncovered through an even closer analysis.
20:46Be clear to Russia.
20:48You hear that?
20:50Investigators discover two sound peaks just before the recording stops.
20:56Can you figure out where that's coming from?
21:01The cockpit has four microphones.
21:03Investigators hope to triangulate the location of the sound by measuring when the spikes hit each microphone.
21:10By triangulation of the data, of this information, you can pinpoint the location of the source of the sound peak in space.
21:23So where did the sound originate from?
21:27Let's look at the seconds before the clash. Can you bring up the cockpit, please?
21:31Investigators now realize they're onto something big.
21:35It hit the captain's mic first, then moved back through the cockpit.
21:44It looks like the sound came from in front of the captain, outside of the airplane.
21:50That was very important because it was one clear indication that the source of the thing that happened to this aeroplane came from outside.
22:00That seals it. An explosion outside means it must have been shot down.
22:07Shot down by what? We need that wreckage.
22:10But there is one other place that we can look.
22:17Without access to wreckage on the ground, investigators turn to forensic analysis of debris found somewhere else, inside the bodies of the cockpit crew.
22:32The autopsy was very important and different sorts of investigation results.
22:54They hope the gruesome task can help them identify what kind of explosive weapon took down MH17.
23:02They find hundreds of similar-looking steel fragments lodged within the bodies.
23:11But in the captain's body, they find something else, something that stands out.
23:17In the body of the captain, there was a specific fragment that was unique in comparison with the other fragments we'd found.
23:27It had a specific shape and form.
23:28Investigators don't know what it is, but they do know from the CVR that the blast hit from the captain's side of the cockpit.
23:40If the distinctly shaped fragment can be matched to the weapon used in the attack, it could be a crucial clue.
23:47We were getting more and more facts that showed that something from the outside had brought the aircraft down.
23:54A full closure to this incident is absolutely vital.
24:01Therefore, the ultimate action of finding who were responsible and bringing them to justice.
24:08Despite having strong evidence pointing to a missile, in order to prove their theory, investigators will need to see the wreckage.
24:19But so far, they still haven't been able to gain access to the crash sites.
24:23Regardless of all the media and political pressure, you still have to do your job starting with the foundation.
24:32Investigate based on facts.
24:34All of the pressure that's put on you to come up quickly with conclusions, you have to disregard.
24:38Almost four months after the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
24:56Smits here.
24:58Investigators finally get the break they need.
25:02That is wonderful news.
25:03Permission to travel to eastern Ukraine.
25:09We're a go.
25:11We're allowed in.
25:13For real this time.
25:21On November the 4th, Dutch investigators finally arrive at one of the wreckage sites.
25:26Their priority is to find pieces from the front of the aircraft, the cockpit.
25:33They hope that wreckage will tell them more about the blast they heard on the CVR.
25:39But they have very limited time to collect evidence from this and five other sites.
25:44Yeah.
25:45Speed to base.
25:46We have landed.
25:47Out.
25:48Stay away from over there.
25:49There are landmines.
25:50The site's front line is less than a mile away.
25:51What was that?
25:52Artillery.
25:53Being fired across the border.
25:54There was still fighting in the area.
25:55We heard artillery and small arms fire.
25:57For that reason we also wore flak jackets.
26:01The side front line is less than a mile away.
26:08What was that?
26:10Artillery being fired across the border.
26:17There was still fighting in the area.
26:19We heard artillery and small arms fire.
26:22For that reason, we also wore flak jackets.
26:25It was crazy because you'd hear the noise,
26:27and it meant at that moment people were getting wounded.
26:30Or worse.
26:32Yeah, maybe they were wounded or worse.
26:36Before you put anything on the truck, you show us.
26:40Got it.
26:41Complicating matters, local soldiers are watching their every move.
26:47You're in a war zone.
26:54You know there's interest from the local leaders and others you're unaware of.
26:58It means you don't speak freely about the work you're doing.
27:00Or what you're doing, Ben.
27:07You see these?
27:14Make sure this gets on the first truck.
27:16There were a number of pieces of wreckage that were very important for our investigation.
27:27And we also tried to take as much with us in the time that we had.
27:30Is Malaysia five or six hours ahead?
27:43Guess I'll find out when I get there.
27:45At the crash site, I actually didn't feel anything, even though I really wanted to.
27:58We tried to do the work very respectfully because we knew what had happened there.
28:01What part of the plane do you think this is?
28:06What part of the plane do you think this is?
28:06This is not part of the plane.
28:13This is steel, not aluminum.
28:17Put this on the truck.
28:18Any items we thought weren't from the aircraft, we loaded onto the truck.
28:27We tried to behave as normally as possible.
28:31What is that?
28:34I think it's from a BPU bypass exhaust port.
28:36Okay, you can go.
28:42Then the investigators receive one last crucial piece of evidence.
28:49On the last afternoon of the last day of the end of the mission,
28:53one of the local helpers brought us the window of the cockpit.
28:59He found it in the village of Petrovka, where we were not allowed to go.
29:04You're kidding me.
29:06And that was the moment I'll never forget.
29:10You have the biggest piece of evidence in your hands.
29:20I only saw the holes and the sadness of that piece of wreckage.
29:24Ron Smith saw how important it was for the investigation.
29:28It was a strange mix of emotions.
29:36After months of trying, investigators have finally managed to bring pieces of wreckage
29:43from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 back to the Netherlands.
29:48They focus on the section of the aircraft that they believe was closest to the blast.
29:52All of the wreckage that was from the front of the aircraft was analyzed very precisely.
30:03Now, which part do we need next?
30:06The goal of carrying out a reconstruction was to show the world what had happened to the aircraft.
30:21What was the impact?
30:22You can make an animation, you can visualize it,
30:25but the real pieces of wreckage speak a lot more.
30:28As the reconstruction takes shape, a startling picture emerges.
30:41Other than where it broke up, there's no damage on this side.
30:47Okay, guys, around.
30:52The left side of the cockpit has sustained heavy damage.
30:58Ross deposits.
30:59Yeah.
31:02And you see how the metal is buckling in here near the supports.
31:05And the holes.
31:08Hit by a pressure wave.
31:11All those penetrations, that was a horrific sight.
31:17You see the devastating power of the hundreds of objects
31:20that penetrated the front of the aircraft
31:24and where the in-flight break-up started.
31:29That's overwhelming.
31:30But it's also a very good proof of what actually happened.
31:36With the reconstruction nearly complete,
31:39investigators separate pieces of shrapnel made of steel
31:43from the aluminium shell of the aircraft.
31:48These steel pieces have to be from the warhead.
31:52For investigators, there is no longer any doubt.
31:56A missile brought down MH17.
31:58Take a look at this.
32:08Another piece from the missile?
32:09Yeah, I think so.
32:11But this looks different.
32:14I've seen this kind of piece before.
32:16We found in a specific fragment, unique in shape and form,
32:22the bowtie or butterfly fragment,
32:25which was the same kind of fragment
32:27we found in the body of the captain.
32:31I need to get this analyzed.
32:33Okay, let's start stringing it.
32:42Investigators use a technique called stringing
32:45to pinpoint exactly where the missile exploded.
32:48That's a technique with forensic investigation
33:04to give an impression
33:06what the origin of the high-energy objects was.
33:11It came from 3 meters to the left
33:16and 3.7 meters above the tip of the nose.
33:20The stringing investigation results pointed out
33:23that the origin of the objects
33:25were from the left above the cockpit.
33:28It matched also with the investigation results
33:31we got from the cockpit voice recorder.
33:33The cockpit reconstruction has given investigators
33:37a much clearer picture
33:39of how flight MH17 was blown out of the sky.
33:44With a fragmentation-type warhead,
33:47the warhead detonates,
33:48and between 7,000 and 8,000
33:50of these preformed shaped fragments
33:53are dispersed against the target
33:55at very high velocity.
33:57Each one of these fragments
33:58is specifically designed
34:00to rip through aircraft aluminum.
34:03Investigators know
34:05that the bow-tie-shaped pieces of shrapnel
34:07found in the captain's body
34:09and in the fuselage
34:10may be the key
34:12to solving the next step of the mystery.
34:15What kind of missile did you come from?
34:20Next.
34:24Again?
34:26Wait, wait, stop.
34:33There it is.
34:35The bow-tie fragments we found
34:38were related to one certain type of warhead,
34:43so there was no doubt about the warhead
34:45that was used in this case.
34:48A Buk missile.
34:52The fragments are from the warhead
34:55of a Buk surface-to-air missile system.
34:58It's made up of hundreds of bow-tie
35:01and square-shaped metal fragments
35:03that explode when the missile
35:05gets close to its target.
35:08They estimate that its probability
35:10of killing is about 95%.
35:12The weapon actually detonates
35:14based on a proximity fuse.
35:16As the aircraft and the target
35:19seem to merge,
35:20at that point,
35:21the weapon is geared to detonate.
35:22It is Malaysia five or six hours ahead.
35:41Romeo, November, Delta.
35:43Malaysian, one, seven.
35:46We're clear to Russia.
35:47These high-performance missiles
36:11actually will encounter
36:12a target at speeds
36:13in excess of Mach 3.
36:15There would certainly be
36:17no capacity or expectation
36:20for the flight crew
36:21to even know
36:22that they are being engaged
36:23by such a weapon.
36:26Investigators turned to experts
36:27at the Netherlands
36:28National Aerospace Lab
36:30to try to pinpoint
36:31the geographic area
36:32where the missile was launched.
36:34The plane was flying
36:36at 33,000 feet.
36:39At Dobas.
36:40At a ground speed
36:41of 494 knots.
36:43By simulating
36:45the flying conditions
36:46at the time
36:47and calculating
36:48the speed and impact points
36:50of the missile,
36:52scientists are able
36:53to figure out
36:54the missile's trajectory.
36:57So it came from this area?
37:00They came up with an area
37:01in front of the airplane
37:03about 320 square kilometers.
37:06It was in the east part
37:07of Ukraine.
37:08Confirming that the missile
37:13was shot from the heart
37:14of the conflict zone
37:16leaves one lingering question.
37:20If the airspace over
37:21Ukraine was so dangerous,
37:23why was Malaysia Airlines
37:24flying there
37:25in the first place?
37:29Yeah.
37:29Now that they know
37:31flight MH17
37:32was shot down
37:33by a surface-to-air missile,
37:36investigators look into
37:37why Malaysia Airlines
37:38was flying through
37:39a conflict zone
37:40in the first place.
37:42Security service report.
37:45Skip to page 24.
37:47The investigators work
37:49with the Dutch
37:50Intelligence Service
37:51to come up
37:51with a detailed picture
37:52of Ukrainian airspace
37:54leading up to the crash.
37:55This is unbelievable.
37:59They learned that
38:00three days before
38:01the MH17 disaster,
38:04separatists shot down
38:05a Ukrainian military
38:06cargo plane.
38:08If Ukraine knew
38:09that planes were
38:10being shot down,
38:11why didn't they
38:12close the airspace?
38:15Good question.
38:18Searching for an answer,
38:20investigators request
38:21a list of NOTAMs,
38:23notices to airmen,
38:24from Ukrainian air
38:25traffic control.
38:27The area over Crimea
38:29was closed.
38:32So why not Donetsk?
38:35A NOTAM is issued
38:36to let the aviation
38:37industry know
38:38if any airspace
38:39is restricted.
38:42There were two NOTAMs
38:44for that area.
38:46On July 1st,
38:47they closed it
38:47below 26,000 feet,
38:49and on July 14th,
38:51they raised that restriction
38:52to 32,000 feet.
38:54In other words,
38:56Ukrainian authorities
38:57were responding
38:58to the threat
38:59by restricting flights
39:01at increasingly
39:02higher altitudes.
39:04But crucially,
39:05they never closed
39:06the airspace completely.
39:09Airlines that undergo
39:10flight operations,
39:12contested airspace,
39:13are looking at
39:14the threat assessment,
39:15they're being advised
39:15what the threats are,
39:17and they expect
39:18some level
39:19of predictability.
39:19Who else is flying
39:21that day?
39:22I'm not going to
39:23believe this.
39:32All these airlines
39:33flew over Ukraine
39:34that week.
39:35No,
39:36that day.
39:37They all flew over
39:39that exact area
39:40before MH17
39:41was shot down.
39:42On July the 17th,
39:46the day MH17
39:47was hit by a missile,
39:49160 flights
39:51crossed through
39:52the exact same airspace.
39:55Despite previous attacks
39:57on military aircraft,
39:58no commercial airlines
40:00had opted
40:00to avoid the area.
40:01Dnipro,
40:03okay to track
40:04two zero miles
40:05left for weather?
40:07Malaysia 17.
40:08Okay,
40:08clear to avoid.
40:10Roger.
40:11Malaysia 17.
40:14Malaysian Airlines
40:15was not doing
40:15anything different
40:17than 160 other flights
40:19that had transgressed
40:19that airspace
40:20the same day.
40:22They were not
40:23the lone ranger
40:23in that airspace.
40:25It just so happened
40:25to be that they were
40:27in the wrong place
40:27at the wrong time.
40:31Only military planes
40:40had been shot down.
40:41And all of them
40:42were flying a lot lower
40:42than 32,000 feet.
40:44So everyone thought
40:45commercial planes
40:46above that
40:47would be safe.
40:48Exactly.
40:50The aircraft
40:51was flying over
40:52a conflict zone
40:53like all other airlines
40:55were doing,
40:56more or less all of them,
40:57because they expected
40:58it to be safe
41:00to fly there.
41:02In its final report,
41:05the Dutch Safety Board
41:06calls on airlines
41:07to improve
41:08their risk assessment
41:09capabilities
41:09so they can better
41:11understand the dangers
41:12posed by military threats.
41:16They also suggest
41:18airlines regularly
41:19publish flight paths
41:20so consumers
41:22can make much more
41:23informed decisions
41:24about flying over
41:25conflict zones.
41:26preventing aircraft
41:29from flying
41:30in unsafe airspace
41:32is a difficult
41:33thing to do.
41:35The only possibility
41:36is sharing
41:37all available information
41:39worldwide
41:40between all the states
41:41involved.
41:4415 months
41:45after 298 people
41:47were killed,
41:48the Dutch Safety Board
41:49invites families
41:50of the victims
41:51to see the reconstructed
41:53MH17 cockpit.
41:54It was a book missile
41:56and they showed us
41:57the fragments.
41:58The fragments
42:00were inside the plane
42:01and also
42:03the crew.
42:05It's a difficult
42:06moment for family members,
42:08but investigators hope
42:09it can provide them
42:10with some closure.
42:11We have seen a lot
42:14of information
42:15in the media
42:15and that what
42:17we thought
42:18might be the truth
42:19has been confirmed.
42:21As the accident report
42:23is published,
42:24a criminal investigation
42:25into who was responsible
42:27for the deadly attack
42:28remains unresolved.
42:31I was proud
42:32that I could take
42:33my part
42:34in such an important
42:35investigation
42:36for the Dutch community
42:38and especially
42:40for the families
42:42of the victims
42:43and to provide
42:44answers to aviation,
42:46safety,
42:47that we can prevent
42:48this in the future.
Recommended
43:59
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