ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Flight Safety Foundation released the following statement on the results of a two-year Dutch-led investigation into the July 17, 2014, downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in which 298 passengers and crew were killed.
“Flight Safety Foundation often has been in the forefront of opposing efforts to essentially criminalize honest mistakes in aviation that happen to have catastrophic consequences,” said President and CEO Jon Beatty. “In the case of MH17, however, evidence is mounting that this shoot-down of a civilian aircraft was a premeditated act, where criminal investigation and prosecution may well be appropriate, if authorities find out who knew about or gave the command to fire a deadly missile at this plane. We urge all states to cooperate fully in this investigation. Also, because Russia claims the Joint Investigation Team to be biased and difficulty remains in obtaining all evidence, we again call on all states to support a resolution at the U.N. Security Council to form an independent, international panel to fully investigate this tragedy. The 298 souls on board MH17 and their loved ones deserve nothing less.”
The investigative report by a team of prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine says evidence indicates that the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 was brought down by a Buk missile taken across the Ukrainian border from Russia, according to multiple media reports. Investigators also said that the Buk missile launcher later was returned to Russia.
Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, non-profit, international organization engaged in research, education, advocacy and publishing to improve aviation safety. The Foundation’s mission is to be the leading voice of safety for the global aerospace community.
