Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 Shot Down Near Donetsk (Ukraine)
BREAKING NEWS LIVE VIDEO - Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agency, Interfax, just now reported on Thursday, July 17, 2014.
Coincidentally, exactly 18 years ago from today on July 17, 1996, a similar international aviation safety breach occur with the downing of TransWorld Airlines flight TWA 800, due to an explosion of the Boeing 747-200 center fuel tanks, shortly after takeoff over Long Island Sound, off the coast of New York.
The Boeing 777-200ER, operating as Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, was flying at 33,000 feet (10,000 meters) at the time it was shot down.
Malaysia Airlines earlier tweeted that it had lost contact with Flight MH17 over Ukrainian airspace:
Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.
Flight MH17 operated on a Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm (Amsterdam local time) and was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.10 am (Malaysia local time) the next day. The flight was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew on-board.
The plane crashed near a village called Hrabov in the Donetsk region, an area that has seen clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels in recent days.
Malaysia Airlines is now in the fog of the greatest crisis in international aviation safety and security history." - Oliver McGee
Malaysia Airlines: Ukraine President Calls Airliner Crash an 'Act of Terrorism'
Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko calls on Dutch experts to launch an
investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17,
according to The Telegraph (U.K.).Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday called the downing of a Malaysian Airlines passenger plane in Ukrainian airspace an "act of terrrorism."
Poroshenko said he had spoken with the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and that Ukraine had offered its condolences on behalf of the Ukrainian people.
He also called for an international investigation into the crash.
Both the government in Kiev and the pro-Russia separatists who have been fighting in the Donetsk region denied any responsibility for downing the plane, which was carrying 295 people.
Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said on his Facebook page that the plane was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher.
UPDATE (July 17, 2014, 7:10 pm ET) Video Courtesy: The Telegraph (U.K.)
