Brussels, 18/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - An international investigation headed by Ukraine is being organised to determine the cause of the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on Thursday 17 July in a conflict zone in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists. What caused the Boeing flight from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia disappear from radar screens in the middle of the afternoon and crash in eastern Ukraine? The investigation to answer these questions is of geopolitical significance and may last more than a year. Tensions is the region will complicate the investigation and questions are being asked about whether planes should be allowed to over the area.
International team of investigators. It seems increasingly likely that the plane was shot down - but by whom and how was it done? All 283 passengers and 15 members of staff were killed. The death toll includes 154 Dutch nationals, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians, 11 Indonesians, 6 British nationals, 4 Germans, 3 Filipinos and 1 Canadian. A safety investigation has already been launched, headed by Ukraine, as the country where the accident happened, as stipulated in Annex 13 to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Convention on International Civil Aviation. The investigation will be joined by Malaysia, as the plane's country of ownership and the United States as the country where the Boeing was built. Experts from the Netherlands and even Russia, from ICAO, Eurocontrol, the European Agency for Aviation Security, Boeing and Malaysia Airlines may be involved with the investigation, in some cases as observers. The state investigation is officially underway but the operational investigation has not yet started because experts have not yet reached the crash zone. This is as a result of both logistical and safety reasons, the perimeter of the accident zone being controlled by Ukrainian separatists. Measures need to be introduced to ensure the area around the wreckage, which is spread over twenty kilometres, is not contaminated. A preliminary report will be published within a month on the information gathered and the results of the investigation should be published a year later.
What about the two black boxes? The investigation will focus on the information stored in the two black boxes. The Ukrainian authorities says they have not been found yet, but the pro-Russian separatists say they have one of them. Legally, the boxes have to be returned to the sovereign state of the country where the accident occurred so they can be analysed. One of the issues in the Ukrainian conflict is the sovereignty of this very region, which will complicate analysis of the black boxes in the investigation. A European source says that if there is not a sovereignty state, as happens for accidents at sea, then it is the country that owns the plane that should get the black box, but Annex 13 does not say what happens in the event of a power vacuum. The source said it was the international community or ICAO that could solve this tricky question, but the source says that, even if the boxes were to fall into the wrong hands, it would be very difficult or impossible to alter the information they contain. Without black boxes, the investigation would be able to use other evidence, such as sound recordings made during the flight, or debris. Analysis of distortion of the cabin debris and impact assessment will be useful for deciding whether the explosion was caused by a missile, adds the European expert.
Why fly over this area? Many commentators are asking why civilian flights are allowed to fly over this conflict zone. On 1 July, Ukraine decided to partially close its airspace below 26,000 feet above eastern Ukraine. On 14 July, the Ukrainian authorities raised this to 33,000 feet. A European source did not rule out that this change had been made in light of how far missiles can travel, but either way, it means that civilian flights are allowed to fly over the conflict zone at between 33,000 and 38,000 feet. Of the 350 or so planes that fly over the region every day, 75 % have kept to their flight paths. MH17 was one of them: it had, however, adjusted the altitude at which it was flying in response to a traffic problem but remained within the authorised limits. Ukraine has now totally closed its airspace in the east of the country and is restricting flights over Crimea. Flights from Europe to south-east Asia are now avoiding the zone and flying over Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, which might increase flight times. Western Ukraine, including Kiev Airport, is open to air traffic.
Although the EU does not have any role to play in the investigation into the incident, EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas has called for an immediate, independent investigation and set up a European air crisis unit to manage the aftermath of the crash. (MD)