- 6/8/2025
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TVTranscript
00:00Charred wreckage in the Sinai Desert is all that's left of a Russian airplane.
00:09That gets everyone's ears perked up.
00:12Airbus aircraft just simply do not fall out of the sky.
00:15Tokyo Center, Korean Air, 007.
00:18A 747 plunges towards the Sea of Japan.
00:22The story began circulating in Washington that the Soviets have been involved.
00:27And a commercial airliner crashes over eastern Ukraine.
00:32This is not part of the plane.
00:34There was a lot of speculation that the aircraft was shot down.
00:39But you want facts.
00:41Rumors surface quickly about what caused all three deadly disasters.
00:46The evidence of a bombing or a missile attack shows itself earlier in an investigation than it would otherwise.
00:53The plane was shot down by a surfaced air missile.
00:56But can investigators uncover the evidence they need to solve the mysteries behind these shocking tragedies?
01:03The plane was shot down by a surfaced air.
01:04The plane was shot down by a surfaced air.
01:05D-day, D-day.
01:10Oh, fuck.
01:12I'm going to want to grab it. I'm going to get up on my side.
01:15I'm going to want you to grab it.
01:16I'm going to get up on my side.
01:18It's just before 6 a.m. at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport in Egypt.
01:40217 passengers are headed home to St. Petersburg, Russia after a holiday getaway.
01:48They're flying on Metrojet Flight 9268.
01:52That'll never fit. Let me store it at the back.
01:56The captain is Valery Nyemov, an experienced aviator with 12,000 hours of flight time.
02:05Exterior check complete. Anything in order out there?
02:09All good, Captain.
02:10The aircraft is an Airbus A321, a longer version of the Airbus A320.
02:18The flight path is northeast from Sharm el-Sheikh along the Gulf of Aqaba.
02:28It then heads north over Cyprus, Turkey, Ukraine, and finally into Russian airspace ending in St. Petersburg.
02:37Total flight time is expected to be 4 hours and 40 minutes.
02:43V-1.
02:45V-1.
02:47V-1.
02:48V-1.
02:51At 5.51 a.m., Metrojet Flight 9268 lifts into the air.
02:57The aircraft took off in a standard way. No problems with the take-off. No problems with the climb.
03:10Metrojet 9268, prepare to contact Nicosia control. Local frequency.
03:15As I want to say, Sharm el-Sheikh. We will let you know when we have left the airspace.
03:25At air traffic control, all is going smoothly, until 6.13 a.m., when Flight 9268 does something unexpected.
03:35It had gone through 30,000 feet and then all of a sudden the radar return changed.
03:47The plane seems to be dropping.
03:52Metrojet 9268, are you experiencing any difficulties?
03:59Then all of a sudden everything just dropped off, just dropped and disappeared.
04:04Do you read me, Metrojet 9268?
04:10That's when the adrenaline starts kicking in.
04:13Do you read me?
04:28Metrojet 9268 has crashed in the middle of the desert.
04:34All 224 passengers and crew have perished.
04:40It's the deadliest air accident in the history of Russian aviation.
04:46Airbus aircraft just simply do not fall out of the sky.
04:50So that gets everyone's ears perked up on what happened here.
04:58An international team of investigators gather near the crash zone.
05:03Egyptian investigators will work alongside their Russian counterparts to try to find out what went wrong.
05:10Good to see you again.
05:14Yeah, you too.
05:16So what do we got?
05:18For both nations the stakes are high.
05:22The Russians lost a lot of people on board that aircraft.
05:26And they don't want the safety of Russian aviation to be impugned.
05:32Egypt do not wish their professionalism as an aviating nation to be impugned as well.
05:40This is what we're finding.
05:46Tail section is here.
05:48Wings and forward fuselage are here.
05:51The team starts by mapping the crash site.
05:54The lengthy wreckage trail provides an important first clue.
06:00Made our break up.
06:02Well over 20,000 feet I'd say.
06:04The size of the debris field tells investigators that the plane broke apart high in the air.
06:10It's the only way wreckage could be spread over such a large area.
06:18The aircraft's engines are charred by fire.
06:22The damage leads investigators to wonder if an explosion rocked the plane high up in the sky.
06:29And there's reason to believe flight 9268 was a target of terrorism.
06:35Take a look at this.
06:39This terrorist group is claiming responsibility for the attack.
06:44A terrorist group affiliated with Islamic State claims responsibility for bringing down Metrojet 9268.
06:54Though there is no proof to back up the claim,
07:00there's speculation that attackers used a surface-to-air missile.
07:04That group has used a surface-to-air missile before.
07:09They've also posted photographs of different surface-to-air missiles that they have in their arsenal.
07:15Investigators need to know if those weapons are powerful enough to hit an airliner at cruising altitude.
07:22These are the missiles they're using.
07:27The plane was flying at 31,000 feet.
07:29That's the range on those missiles.
07:31I was just looking at the specs.
07:33Check it out.
07:35Check it out.
07:38They study military documents.
07:41They soon have their answer.
07:44It's not possible.
07:46Not with the weapons they have.
07:48It was too high of an altitude to be a surface-to-air missile.
07:53And the initial talk of the possibility of the Islamic State being behind it was dismissed.
08:00Investigators are still not certain the airliner was taken down by a detonating device.
08:06Ready?
08:08Let's play it.
08:10They look to the flight's cockpit voice recorder in hopes it might provide clues.
08:16Play the very end again, but this time can we try to take out some background noise?
08:21I have to look over my schedule for the next few days.
08:25What's that sound?
08:30Can you isolate it anymore?
08:33A strange noise on the recording catches the attention of investigators.
08:37I have to look over my schedule for the next few days.
08:40There's definitely sound there.
08:45It's like a bang.
08:48It sounds like a beginning of an explosion.
08:51There is an event and then it stops working.
08:54Well, that in its own, on itself, is telling you something.
08:58That is saying that there has been a very sudden and violent event.
09:04Investigators find compelling evidence on the cockpit voice recorder suggesting an onboard blast occurred.
09:10If we can find out where that sound came from, we might be able to figure out what caused the explosion.
09:16The team needs to learn everything it can from this crucial evidence.
09:21The cockpit voice recorders, they're leaving some type of unknown noise that requires a frequency spectral analysis.
09:34An explosion produces two different types of waves.
09:38A shock wave vibrates through the fuselage at speeds up to 16,000 feet per second.
09:44A much slower sound wave travels through the air at 1,100 feet per second.
09:50Both of these waves are captured by the sensitive cockpit microphones.
09:57Can we see the close-up of the captain's microphone, please?
10:00Comparing the timing of the two different waves could help investigators pinpoint the origin of the blast.
10:06The small gap in time between the two waves is a huge clue for investigators.
10:13That's the sound wave, and that's the shock wave.
10:16So the sound wave hit the microphone just over one hundredth of a second after the shock wave.
10:21They already know the speed of each wave.
10:24Now, with the time gap, they can calculate exactly how far they traveled.
10:29I think it started at the rear of the plane.
10:36Right here.
10:38Clever detective work reveals that a blast originated in the rear of the plane.
10:46Now investigators want to know what caused it.
10:51Look at this.
10:53They hope wreckage from the rear of the plane can provide a clue.
10:59I think I saw another one just like that.
11:03While they re-examine the wreckage of Metrojet 9268.
11:07Guys, clear space here. Give me a hand. Give me a hand with this.
11:11Investigators find some critical evidence.
11:14Right in the middle.
11:16Several pieces of fuselage are peppered with suspicious-looking holes.
11:22The obvious analogy is with a jigsaw puzzle.
11:25You have all the pieces, but they don't make sense until you start putting them back together again to form a picture.
11:34The finding backs up the cockpit voice recorder analysis.
11:38Looks like we found our explosion.
11:40They now have even more compelling evidence of an explosion in the left rear of the plane.
11:47Still searching for the cause of the explosion, they order a chemical analysis of debris from near the blast area.
11:55What the laboratory forensic chemist would do is to extract that residue and run it through the instrumentation that would tell you whether you have presence of undetonated explosives.
12:13The lab tests are conclusive. There's bomb residue on the wreckage.
12:22Flight 9268 was blown out of the sky by an on-board explosive device.
12:29The discovery explains what caused the crash.
12:33Have a look at this.
12:34Look at this.
12:35But questions remain.
12:37Who did it?
12:38And how did the bomb get on the plane?
12:43An ISIS online magazine provides a clue.
12:47They say they packed the explosion in soda can.
12:50It claims they can turn soda cans into bombs.
12:53Looking for answers, investigators reconstruct the blast area.
13:05They want to pinpoint exactly where on-board the bomb was hidden.
13:12It's the oversized luggage compartment in the hold.
13:15Ground crew, perhaps.
13:17Could a worker have smuggled a bomb on-board flight 9268?
13:25Hundreds of people work as ground crew at Sharm El Sheikh Airport.
13:29Take a look at this.
13:31Special security clearance gives most of them far greater access to aircraft than any passenger.
13:40Investigators focus on the personnel who were working on the morning of the bombing.
13:44I think we may have found our man.
13:49According to an unconfirmed report, the Islamic State found that one of its members had a relative working in the Sharm El Sheikh Airport.
13:57When the time was right, the Islamic State was able to leverage this relationship and compel this relative, who was a baggage handler, to put the bomb in the plane.
14:08There is now ample evidence to support a compelling theory about what happened to Metrojet Flight 9268.
14:23Metrojet 9268, cleared for takeoff. Runway 04R.
14:26Runway 04R.
14:30As the Russian crew prepares to head home, they have no way of knowing that below them in the cargo hold is a bomb set to go off at cruising altitude.
14:39The plane decompresses from the pressurization. That is the part that literally rips the plane apart.
14:57There's no way to survive.
14:58There's no way to survive.
14:59After the Metrojet disaster, air safety authorities call for tighter security screening for airport staff.
15:00To reduce the odds of such a catastrophe ever happening again.
15:01The other way to reduce the odds of such a catastrophe ever happening again.
15:03The plane decompresses from the pressurization. That is the part that literally rips the plane apart.
15:07There's no way to survive.
15:09After the Metrojet disaster, air safety authorities call for tighter security screening for airport staff.
15:13To reduce the odds of such a catastrophe ever happening again.
15:16The Metrojet event was game-changing for how seriously we have to take security.
15:23Is there a screening process to make sure that the staff over-appeared in the air?
15:26After the Metrojet disaster, air safety authorities call for tighter security screening for airport staff.
15:29After the Metrojet disaster, air safety authorities call for tighter security screening for airport staff.
15:34To reduce the odds of such a catastrophe ever happening again.
15:37The Metrojet event was game-changing for how seriously we have to take security.
15:41Is there a screening process to make sure that the staff over a period of time of employment are not subverted?
15:50They should be throwing greater security resources in human terms and equipment terms.
16:00When air crash investigators suspect that a flight has been targeted, it changes the entire nature of the case.
16:07A crash site becomes a crime scene.
16:11Anytime that there's something that's terror-related, it's not just seeking to find a cause, but you've also got to find out who did it.
16:18And the investigation needs to support their theories and causes with evidence that's got to be as black and white as possible.
16:25But what if the evidence isn't clear-cut?
16:30It's clear-cut.
16:37Korean Air 007, positioned over Nipi, estimating NOCA 1826132.0.
16:45After a brief layover in Anchorage, a Korean Airlines Boeing 747 cruises high over the North Pacific.
16:52Captain Chun Byung-in has nearly 11 years' experience flying for Korean Airlines.
17:02Before that, he served 10 years in the Korean Air Force.
17:07Ladies and gentlemen, we'll soon be serving breakfast before we land in Kippo, which will be in about three hours.
17:17Many of the passengers plan to take connecting flights to other destinations after landing in Seoul.
17:22Tokyo Center, Korean Air 007.
17:27Korean Air 007, Tokyo.
17:30Korean Air 007, request climb 350.
17:35Roger, stand by.
17:37With reports of strong winds along their route, the pilots decide to take the plane to a higher cruising altitude in an effort to conserve fuel.
17:46Korean Air 007, climb and maintain flight level 350.
17:54Roger, Korean Air 007, climb and maintain flight level 350.
18:05Then, without warning.
18:11What happened?
18:13Return for office.
18:14Rapid decompression.
18:19Tokyo Center, Korean Air 007.
18:24Korean Air 007, Tokyo.
18:26Korean Air 007, Tokyo.
18:29We are experiencing rapid decompression.
18:32Korean Air 007, unreadable, unreadable.
18:35Emergency detect.
18:37Korean Air Line 007 is now plunging towards the sea.
18:41Korean Air 007, Tokyo.
18:42Korean Air 007, radio check on 1 0 0 4 8.
18:43Korean Air 007, Tokyo.
18:44Korean Air 007, radio check on 1 0 0 4 8.
19:01Korean Airlines Flight 007, and all 269 people on board have vanished.
19:04and all 269 people on board have vanished.
19:09Korean Air 015, would you attempt to contact Korean Air 007, please, and relay position?
19:16And then it becomes a question of determining why was it off course that much?
19:23To find the answer, investigators run the route through a flight simulator.
19:29Let's try the flight in heading mode now.
19:31They wonder if the pilots incorrectly programmed the settings on the navigation system,
19:37taking the plane over the Soviet Union.
19:42A second possibility is that after programming the navigation system,
19:46the crew may have failed to turn it on.
19:51After takeoff from Anchorage,
19:53the aircraft would have used a constant magnetic heading to get to the route.
20:01And if it was forgotten in that constant magnetic heading,
20:06it would continue over Soviet airspace.
20:11The magnetic heading would have kept the plane flying in the right direction,
20:16but along a very different route than the one planned.
20:19At this point, Frostell can only speculate why Flight 007 was off course.
20:29Although Flight 007 may not have been on a spy mission that night,
20:35another plane was a U.S. Air Force RC-135.
20:40They were tracking an RC-135 which was doing very slow figure-eighths off the coast
20:47with its own listening devices waiting for a Soviet missile test.
20:51The spy plane was near the Soviet border in the path of the KAL jetliner.
20:58When their paths crossed,
21:00the two planes may have been indistinguishable on Soviet radar.
21:04Along came this intruder,
21:08and they just fell into the patterns
21:09that they had prepared in advance for such an intruder.
21:16The order was given to shoot down the intruder.
21:24Give warning burst with cannon.
21:26The warning shots go unnoticed.
21:34Take off position for attack.
21:40Approach target and destroy.
21:43Approach, locked on already.
21:46Execute as long.
21:48Did the Russian fighter pilot get close enough
21:50to see the target with his own eyes?
21:52Did he know it was a passenger jet?
21:59Target is destroyed.
22:05The key to this mystery
22:07lies inside the plane's black boxes,
22:10which they assume are lost forever beneath the sea.
22:17In the months following the KAL disaster,
22:20wreckage and unidentifiable human remains
22:23wash ashore in northern Japan.
22:28There is no doubt
22:30that the plane was completely destroyed.
22:36Investigators have insufficient evidence
22:38to determine why the plane veered off course.
22:42But Soviet officials
22:44have been hiding something.
22:46One month after the incident,
22:50not only did they find the wreckage,
22:53they also found the all-important black boxes
22:56and kept that a secret for nearly 10 years.
23:02Tonight in Berlin,
23:03the boundary between the two Germanys
23:04is becoming...
23:05After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,
23:08the new Russian administration
23:10decides to go public on the incident.
23:13I was approached by the KGB general
23:17and he told me that
23:19you probably don't know me
23:21but I have had the recorders
23:23for 10 years.
23:25I had them in the safe in my office.
23:28I knew it was a big international secret.
23:30It bothered me tremendously.
23:34Kai Frostell is eager to listen
23:36to the cockpit voice recorder.
23:38So I knew they were going to tell me something.
23:42I wanted to have the facts from the tapes.
23:45What?
23:47It's already time for breakfast.
23:49What do you know?
23:51But all the investigators hear
23:53is idle banter from the crew,
23:55nothing to suggest it's a spy plane.
23:59I heard there's a currency exchange at the airport.
24:01What kind of money?
24:04All the currency money.
24:05It's just a totally routine conversation.
24:09Either these guys are the most cold-blooded actors
24:11and falsifiers ever
24:12or they really were totally clueless
24:14about where they were.
24:15Sadly, I think the latter's the case.
24:19Frostell finally finds the definitive answer
24:22when he analyzes the information
24:24from the flight data recorder.
24:26The data revealed that the aircraft
24:29was on constant magnetic heading
24:31from soon after takeoff from Anchorage to the end.
24:37The crew of KAL-007
24:40never switched to the navigation system
24:43that would have kept them out of Soviet airspace.
24:47It's a fundamental error
24:49that causes a horrific tragedy.
24:51In 1993,
24:57Kai Frostell has the evidence
24:59that he sorely lacked
25:00when he issued his first report.
25:03Now he can prove
25:05how the Korean pilots blundered
25:07and ended up off course.
25:10The destruction of flight 007
25:12is ruled an accident.
25:16Frostell recommends
25:17that all passenger planes
25:19be equipped with a clear indicator
25:21that the autopilot
25:22is in heading mode.
25:26The tragedy of 007
25:28is that it didn't have to happen.
25:31It was not inevitable.
25:32Target is destroyed.
25:34It was a series of misunderstandings,
25:36a series of bad decisions
25:38that had been primed ahead of time.
25:43Stalled by Cold War tensions,
25:46it takes investigators
25:47more than a decade
25:48to solve the mystery
25:50of flight 007.
25:54When you have
25:55either a bombing
25:56or a shoot-down,
25:59politics begins to play
26:01a large portion
26:02of what drives an investigation,
26:05and sometimes
26:06it complicates
26:08the neutrality
26:09of any group
26:10trying to investigate
26:11exactly what happened.
26:13I'm looking forward
26:23to getting home
26:23and seeing the kids
26:24and eating a proper
26:26home-cooked meal.
26:29Malaysia Airlines
26:30flight MH17
26:31is two and a half hours
26:33into an 11 and a half hour
26:35trip from Amsterdam
26:36to Kuala Lumpur.
26:37The cabin is filled
26:43to capacity
26:43with 283 passengers
26:46on board.
26:48All done?
26:49Yeah.
26:50Are you bringing
26:51the drink cart again soon?
26:52Of course.
26:52What can I get you?
26:53I'll have a beer, please.
26:55Most are Dutch tourists
26:56planning to connect
26:57to vacation spots
26:59in Australia,
27:00Thailand,
27:01and Indonesia.
27:03European travellers
27:04on holiday
27:05would have been
27:06the preponderance
27:06of the folks on board.
27:08Certainly there were
27:08some business people,
27:10but for the large share
27:11of the passengers,
27:12there was people
27:12on vacation.
27:16MH17's scheduled
27:17flight path
27:18takes it across
27:18Eastern Europe,
27:20Central Asia,
27:22and the Bay of Bengal
27:23before reaching
27:24Malaysia's capital,
27:26Kuala Lumpur.
27:28But they're running
27:29a little behind
27:29schedule today.
27:30Malaysian 1-7
27:35is level 3-4-0
27:37non-standard available.
27:39Now flying
27:40in Ukrainian airspace,
27:41the pilots request
27:43permission to climb
27:44a thousand feet
27:45where they can fly
27:45faster to make up time.
27:51The skies over Ukraine
27:53are busy today.
27:54The local controller
27:56is not able to grant
27:57the Malaysian pilots' request.
27:58Malaysia 1-7
28:023-4-0
28:03is not available.
28:05Roger.
28:06Maintain 3-3-0.
28:08Well,
28:09we tried.
28:11We'll make it up
28:12over Russia.
28:13Looks like
28:14clear sailing from here.
28:16Both nations
28:17are still cooperating
28:19when it comes
28:19to commercial aviation.
28:22Deployed
28:23Romeo November Delta?
28:24Perfect.
28:26The Ukrainian controller
28:28gets word
28:29from his Russian
28:29counterpart.
28:31MH-17
28:31is cleared
28:32to the next radar point.
28:35Malaysia 1-7,
28:36proceed direct to point
28:37Romeo November Delta.
28:40Romeo November Delta,
28:41Malaysian 1-7.
28:44We're clear to Russia.
28:49The crew had just
28:50transmitted a nominal
28:51air traffic control
28:52transmission.
28:53They were not aware
28:54of any threat
28:54at that point.
28:55It was routine
28:56and mundane.
29:03Malaysia 1-7,
29:05Deeper radar,
29:05please come in.
29:10Malaysia Airlines
29:11flight MH-17
29:12has fallen off radar.
29:17Malaysia 1-7,
29:19Deeper radar here.
29:21Please come in.
29:21The air traffic controller
29:24makes a call
29:25to report
29:25the disappearance.
29:28Air crash investigators
29:30have inherited
29:31a difficult situation.
29:34Despite immediate speculation,
29:37there's still no evidence
29:38confirming where it came from
29:40and who fired it.
29:43They need proof.
29:47Investigators can't get access
29:49to the wreckage.
29:50I'm sorry,
29:51I don't understand.
29:54What's impossible?
30:01It's important
30:01that the pieces of wreckage
30:03remain undisturbed.
30:04They are silent witnesses.
30:07Pieces of wreckage
30:08tell you what happened.
30:10A total picture
30:11of all the wreckage
30:12together gives you
30:13a total story.
30:14The total story
30:14gives you a total story.
30:16The best bet
30:23it was shot down.
30:26Proving it
30:27without any wreckage
30:28is nearly impossible.
30:32During a normal investigation,
30:34one of the first things
30:35you do is
30:35the security
30:36of the wreckage area.
30:38And this was not
30:39possible here.
30:40How can we conduct
30:41an investigation
30:42without seeing
30:43the wreckage?
30:44Let's zoom in
30:49to the crash area.
30:51Investigators
30:52need to find
30:52another way
30:53to figure out
30:54why Malaysia Airlines
30:55flight MH17
30:56crashed.
30:59What we want?
31:00Nothing!
31:01What we want?
31:02Nothing!
31:02What we want?
31:03Nothing!
31:04The families
31:05that lost
31:06other family members,
31:07crew members
31:08that were aboard
31:08the aircraft,
31:09they want some
31:10kind of resolution.
31:11They want something
31:12to help them
31:13put this issue
31:13to rest.
31:17A few days later,
31:19the investigation
31:20gets a break.
31:22Militants in Ukraine
31:23have recovered
31:24the black boxes
31:25and handed them
31:27over to Malaysian authorities.
31:29It's a major development.
31:32Analysis
31:33of the cockpit recordings
31:34and the flight data
31:35reveals that the flight
31:36was proceeding normally.
31:38then the recording
31:42ends abruptly.
31:43We're clear
31:44to Russia.
31:49So not a single warning.
31:52Everything's fine
31:52and then it
31:53just stops.
31:54With the instantaneous
31:58and combined failure
32:00of both the cockpit
32:00voice recorder
32:01and the flight data
32:03recorder,
32:03that's indicative
32:04of loss of electrical
32:05power simultaneously,
32:06which is analogous
32:08generally
32:08with a catastrophic
32:09event.
32:11Play it again.
32:14But there's more
32:15on the cockpit
32:15voice recorder
32:16that interests
32:17investigators.
32:19Be clear to Russia.
32:20You hear that?
32:21They discover
32:23two sound peaks
32:24just before
32:25the recording stops.
32:29Can you figure out
32:30where that's coming from?
32:33The cockpit
32:34has four microphones.
32:36Investigators hope
32:37to triangulate
32:38the location
32:39of the sound
32:40by measuring
32:41when the spikes
32:42hit each microphone.
32:48It hit the captain's mic.
32:51first.
32:52Then move back
32:54through the cockpit.
32:57It looks like
32:57the sound came
32:58from in front
32:59of the captain
33:00outside of the airplane.
33:05That was very important
33:06because it was
33:07one clear indication
33:09that the source
33:11of the thing
33:12that happened
33:13to this airplane
33:15came from outside.
33:18That feels it.
33:19An explosion
33:20outside means
33:21it must have
33:21been shot down.
33:23Shot down by what?
33:25We need that wreckage.
33:32Finally,
33:33almost four months
33:34after the crash
33:35of MH17,
33:37Smith's here.
33:38Investigators
33:39get the break
33:40they need.
33:41That is wonderful news.
33:43Permission to travel
33:44to eastern Ukraine.
33:49We're a go.
33:50We're allowed in.
33:52For real this time.
34:01Stay away from over there.
34:03There are landmines.
34:04When Dutch investigators
34:08get access
34:08to the wreckage sites
34:10of Malaysia Airlines
34:11flight MH17,
34:12they have to work fast.
34:15What was that?
34:17Artillery
34:17being fired
34:19across the border.
34:20This is not part
34:21of the plane.
34:28Dutch investigators
34:29manage to bring
34:30pieces of the wreckage
34:31back to the Netherlands
34:32and quickly narrow
34:34their focus
34:34on the section
34:35of the aircraft
34:36that they believe
34:37was closest
34:37to the blast.
34:40All of the wreckage
34:42that was from
34:43the front of the aircraft
34:44was analyzed
34:45very precisely.
34:48They start
34:49reconstructing
34:50the cockpit.
34:51Blast deposits.
34:53The left side
34:54of the cockpit
34:54has sustained
34:55heavy damage.
34:56And you see
34:57how the metal
34:57is buckling in here
34:58near the supports.
34:59And the holes
35:00hit by a pressure
35:03wave.
35:06All those
35:07penetrations,
35:08that was
35:09a horrific sight.
35:11You see
35:11the devastating
35:12power,
35:13the hundreds
35:13of objects
35:14that penetrated
35:15the front
35:16of the aircraft
35:17and where
35:18the in-flight
35:19break-up started.
35:21That's
35:22overwhelming.
35:23But it's also
35:24a very good proof
35:25of what
35:26actually happened.
35:27with the
35:30reconstruction
35:31nearly complete,
35:33investigators
35:33separate pieces
35:34of shrapnel
35:35made of steel
35:36from the
35:37aluminium shell
35:38of the aircraft.
35:39These steel
35:40pieces have to
35:41be from the
35:41warhead.
35:44The only
35:45explanation
35:46is that a
35:47missile exploded
35:48outside of the
35:49plane.
35:52Another piece
35:53from the missile?
35:54Yeah,
35:54I think so.
35:56But this
35:56looks different.
35:58I've seen
35:59this kind
35:59of piece
35:59before.
36:04These
36:04high-performance
36:05missiles
36:06actually will
36:06encounter
36:07targeted
36:08at speeds
36:08in excess
36:09of Mach 3.
36:11There would
36:12certainly be
36:12no capacity
36:13or expectation
36:14for the
36:15flight crew
36:16to even
36:17know that
36:17they were
36:17being engaged
36:18by such
36:18a weapon.
36:22But why
36:23was the
36:23Malaysia
36:23airline's
36:24plane flying
36:25through a
36:25conflict zone
36:26in the first
36:27place?
36:27Security
36:28service report?
36:29Skip to
36:30page 24.
36:32Looking at
36:33the Ukrainian
36:34airspace leading
36:35up to the
36:35crash,
36:36investigators
36:37learned that
36:38Ukrainian
36:38authorities
36:39were responding
36:40to the threat
36:40in the area
36:41by restricting
36:42flights at
36:43increasingly
36:43higher altitudes.
36:46But crucially,
36:47they never
36:48closed the
36:48airspace
36:49completely.
36:49Malaysian
36:52airlines was
36:53not doing
36:53anything
36:54different than
36:55160 other
36:56flights that
36:57had transgressed
36:57that airspace
36:58the same
36:58day.
37:00They were
37:01not the
37:01lone ranger in
37:02that airspace.
37:03It just so
37:03happened to be
37:04that they were
37:05in the wrong
37:05place at the
37:06wrong time.
37:06in its final
37:15report, the
37:16Dutch safety
37:17board calls on
37:18airlines to
37:19improve their
37:20risk assessment
37:20capabilities so
37:22they can better
37:22understand the
37:23dangers posed by
37:24military threats.
37:25It's important
37:28that dispatchers
37:29and operations
37:30folks and
37:31pilots are
37:32planning their
37:32flights around
37:33dangerous airspace
37:34that has any
37:35kind of issue.
37:36The restrictions
37:36are there.
37:38Malaysia 17
37:38was operating
37:39within all of
37:40the restrictions
37:41and advisories
37:42that were in
37:43place, but
37:43those advisories
37:44were just not
37:45enough.
37:47A criminal
37:48investigation as
37:49to who was
37:50responsible for
37:51the deadly
37:51attack remains
37:53unresolved.
37:55hundreds of
38:00innocent lives
38:00have been lost
38:01because civilian
38:02airliners have
38:03become targets.
38:05Each shocking
38:07crash horrifies
38:08the flying public.
38:11But from each
38:12incident, vital
38:14lessons are
38:14learned on how
38:15airliners can be
38:16protected from
38:17the heat of war.
38:20The continuing
38:21hope is that
38:23it never happens
38:23again.
38:25Another
38:28kind of
38:29the
38:31other
38:32thing
38:32else
38:33is
38:34a
38:35double
38:36one
38:36and
38:36another
38:37thing
38:38that
38:38has
38:39to
38:39win.
38:41And
38:42you
38:43know,
38:43the
38:44reality
38:45is
38:45a
38:46great
38:47thing
38:47and
38:48you
38:48have
38:49to
38:49the
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