Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded today in its final report on the July 17th, 2014 crash that killed all 298 people on board.
The long-awaited findings of the board, which was not empowered to address questions of responsibility, did not specify who launched the missile.
At a meeting with victims’ families earlier today, Safety Board head Tjibbe Joustra, in presenting the report said passengers who were not killed by the impact of the missile would have been rendered unconscious by the sudden decompression of the aircraft and a lack of oxygen at 33,000 feet.
The board also found that Ukraine had reason to close airspace over the conflict zone, and that the 61 airlines that had continued flying there should have recognized the potential danger.
