MH17 Hit by an Outside Object, Says Preliminary Investigative Report
Dutch investigators leading the probe in to the crash of the Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine in July have said that the plane was hit by "high-energy objects from outside the aircraft." This debunks any theory that the plane went down due to technical or human error.
The investigators released a report Tuesday saying that the plane was hit in the front in the cockpit and fuselage. This supports earlier conjectures that the passenger plane was hit by a missile probably from the pro-Russian rebels. The report itself does not mention the source of the outside object or who possibly could have released it.
"Based on the preliminary findings to date, no indications of any technical or operational issues were found with the aircraft or crew prior to the ending of the CVR and FDR recording at 13.20:03 hours," the report said, reports the Malaymailonline.com.
"Flight MH17 with a Boeing 777-200 operated by Malaysia Airlines broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside," it added.
The wreckage of the plan, carrying 298 passengers aboard was spread over an area of 10 km or more in the aftermath.
As the crash happened in rebel territory, much of the evidence was trampled over and scattered. The Dutch investigators were handed over on site photo and video evidence, as well as data from military satellites and radar, reports the New York Times.
The Dutch Safety Board also said the commercial jet was in "airworthy condition" at the time of departure and that all flight crew members were "appropriately qualified" and had valid medical certificates to operate the flight, reports Malaymailonline.
The Dutch officials emphasized that the report is a preliminary one and further investigation will continue of the gathered evidence and a final report will most probably submitted in the summer of 2015.
