Levko Stek
The plane that crashed from the sky over Donetsk oblast was in good technical condition, says the report. The analysis of the conversation between the pilots and crew members did not show any proof of an emergency. The motors worked as usual. The plane was piloted by an experienced crew.
As such, taking the nature of the damage into account, despite the fact that they could not be investigated in detail, points to a directed attack, literally, damage done by numerous high-energy objects. Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and head of the state committee on the investigation of the reasons of the Boeing crash Volodymyr Hroysman stated that the Ukrainian side agrees with the conclusions drawn by Dutch experts.
“We did not feel any pressure on part of our international partners. The Ukrainian side, as is known, was not allowed to participate in the search and recovery operation. Therefore we will not be preemptive, however the preliminary conclusions made during the international investigation, are not surprising for us, and we consider them objective,” noted Volodymyr Hroysman.
Deputy head of Russian Aviation: it is too early to draw conclusions
The Russian side also reacted to the experts’ report. According to deputy head of Russian Aviation and Russian representative on the international committee on the investigation of the reasons of the crash Oleg Storchevoy, the published report is only the beginning of the investigation. Therefore it is too early to speak of the reasons why the plane fell, as the collected data is hardly sufficient. The official also noted that a lot of time was wasted and it will be extremely difficult to find part of the evidence.
“It is important to attentively examine all radio location data, carry out coroner examination. Such investigations are an absolute dogma for civil aviation, when we are talking about investigating aviation events. Without all of this information we cannot talk about some preliminary conclusions as to the reasons of the catastrophe,” said Storchevoy.
Expert: it very well may be a BUK
On the contrary, Ukrainian experts assure that the Dutch did a fantastic job, taking into account the conditions and the time they had. Lawyer and airplane crash specialist Andriy Kozlov says that the published document makes it clear that the committee considers a missile the reason for the plane crash: the formulation is quite clear and there can be no ambiguous interpretation.
“It is very important that damage was documented on the cockpit. This means that the missile was initiated, that its explosion occurred in the first part of the plane. This means that the meeting point between the missile and the plane was predetermined, according to the plane’s future course. And this is quite characteristic of zenith missile complexes. Therefore it very well may be a complex such as the BUK,” explains the expert.
However, despite this, the report is not final, the expert says, and we should abstain from categorical verdicts as of now. The committee promised to publish the next document before the end of the year.
All 298 people who had been onboard the Boeing died as a result of the crash on July 17.
The West and Ukraine stated they had evidence of the fact that the plane had been downed by pro-Russian mercenaries using BUK complexes with the possible support from Moscow. The mercenaries and Russia deny their involvement.
Source: Radio Liberty
Translated by Mariya Shcherbinina
