What's this? This is an unbiased just-the-facts news timeline ('newsline') about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, created by Newslines contributors. Become a contributor

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH1756 posts
Biography view > Click for Latest News view
17 Jul, 2014

Shot down over Ukraine

0 Comments

A Boeing 777 with 298 people on board is shot down  near the town of  Torez in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The  flight departed from Amsterdam and was on its way to  Kuala Lumpur. The flight was at a cruising height of approximately 33,000 feet when it was hit by a surface-to-air  missile. A U.S. official tells CNN’s Jake Tapper that the Obama administration does not believe Ukraine has the capability or motivation to carry out this act. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak says the plane never made a distress call. He is calling for full access to the crash scene so a thorough investigation can be carried out.

We must and we will find out precisely what happened to this flight. No stone will be left un-turned. If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.

Last passenger post

0 Comments

4

The final Facebook post made by a passenger of the flight is now viral.  Cor Pan posts

Mocht hij verdwijnen , zo ziet hij d’r uit

This translates to, “He was allowed to disappear, so does he see her out” or basically if the plane disappears this is what it looked like.

18 Jul, 2014

Jet downing an ‘outrage’

Barack Obama0 Comments

Obama says the pro-Russian fighters can not have shot down Flight 17 or other aircrafts recently downed in the region “without sophisticated equipment and sophisticated training, and that is coming from Russia.” He warns of a thorough and complicated investigation of the crash and scolds Russia for training and equipping the rebels who appear to be responsible for the attack:

No one can deny the truth that is revealed in the awful images that we all have seen, and the eyes of the world are on eastern Ukraine, and we are going to make sure that the truth is out.

He calls for an immediate cease-fire in the region and for a “credible international investigation” into what happened.

Access to crash site is limited

Announcement0 Comments

A group of 21 international monitors is allowed only limited access to the crash site. Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, says the group was not given the access they expected. He tells CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that the group was “only allowed access to about a 200-meter strip” for about 75 minutes at the site, which he says was guarded by armed men in uniform:

One of our top priorities was to find out what happened to the black boxes. No one was there to answer those questions.

‘We’ve just shot down a plane’

0 Comments

An intercepted phone call may be the answer to who is responsible for shooting down flight MH17.  The recordings, translated and distributed by Ukrainian officials, begin with an alleged militant informing others that a plane has been shot down.  The conversation is between an alleged pro-Russian rebel named Major and another identified as Grek:

Major: The plane broke into pieces in the air … we have found the first 200 (dead). It’s a civilian.”

Grek: “How are things going there?”

M: “Well, we are 100% sure that it was a civilian plane.”

G: “Are there a lot of people?”

M: “F–k! The debris was falling straight into the yards.”

M: “Here are remnants of internal brackets, chairs, bodies.”

G: “Are there any weapons?”

M: “Nothing at all. Civilian belongings, medical scraps, towels, toilet paper.”

Airline releases nationalities of passengers

Announcement0 Comments

Although the passenger list is not being released at this time, Malaysia Airlines releases a breakdown of the nationalities of the passengers on board flight MH17.  At least 189 were Dutch, 28 were Australians, 28 were Malaysians, 12 were Indonesian, 9 were from the United Kingdom, 4 were from Germany, 4 were from Belgium, 3 were from the Philippines, 1 was Canadian and 1 was from Hong Kong. Authorities are still trying to determine the nationalities of the other passengers.

Frequent Flyer tweet

Jason Biggs0 Comments

Biggs apologizes for a tweet that he sent out after the news reports of the crash.

Anyone wanna buy my Malaysian Airlines frequent flyer miles?

He deletes the post and issues an apology.

People were offended, and that was not my intent. Sorry to those of you that were. This is obviously a horrible tragedy, and everyone – including myself – is sad and angry about it. Sending positive thoughts to the victims and their families.

19 Jul, 2014

Malaysia Airlines releases manifest

Announcement0 Comments

The airline releases the full list of passengers and crew members that were aboard flight MH17 when it was shot down. The airline appeals to family and friends of the victims to contact them in an effort to find next of kin. A spokesman says Malaysia Airlines is assessing security in Ukraine before making a decision about possibly flying next of kin to the country where 298 passengers and crew lost their lives. He says family members are being cared for in Amsterdam while a team from the airline, including security officials, is on the ground in Ukraine. He said the team was trying to travel “500 kilometers (310 miles) through difficult territory” to reach the area where wreckage of the Boeing 777 landed.  The full manifest is listed here.

Video from inside flight

0 Comments

Md Ali Md Salim, a passenger on flight MH17, posts a video to his Instagram account prior to the plane taking off from Amsterdam. He captions the 14-second video:

Bismillah… #hatiadasikitgentar (In the name of God… feeling a little bit nervous).

Observers denied full access to crash site

Petro PoroshenkoAnnouncement0 Comments

For the second day in a row, international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are denied total access to the crash site by armed separatists. The team of monitors is only allowed to see one part of the large area containing wreckage and human remains. Alexander Hug, the chief of the OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine, says today the team is allowed “to see a bit more” of the sprawling crash site. President Petro Poroshenko says in a statement that he will “not tolerate interference” with the work of international investigators.

Dutch PM asks Putin to use his power

UkraineVladimir PutinAnnouncement0 Comments

With almost two-thirds of the people killed in the crash of flight MH17 being Dutch, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, urges President Vladimir Putin to use his power to influence the rebels to allow full access to the crash site. In a press briefing he says:

I want to see results in the form of unimpeded access and rapid recovery. This is now priority number one.

20 Jul, 2014

Searchers find 196 bodies

0 Comments

Ukrainian workers with The State Emergency Service find 196 bodies at the crash site. Official staff  are taking part in the search for the remains of the 298 people who were on board MH17, covering an area stretching across 34 square kilometers (13 square miles). There are 380 staff involved in the search. They are being assisted by coal miners from the area. International observers tell CNN that bodies that have been removed from the site are stored on refrigerated train cars at a nearby train station. Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe  (OSCE) say they can’t independently confirm that. The 14-member OSCE team says the train will remain in place until international specialists arrive, and it is not clear when that would be or where the train might take the bodies. They also say it is hard to obtain definitive information because pro-Russian rebels are in charge of the checkpoints leading to the site. A spokesperson for OSCE tells CNN:

There doesn’t seem to be one commander in charge.

Black box found at crash site

Announcement0 Comments

Reuters news agency releases a video showing what appears to be a rescue worker holding up an in-flight recorder, often referred to as a black box, at the crash site. The agency labels the video as being of one of the two flight data recorders from flight MH17. Reuters says the video was taken two days ago. It is unclear who is in possession of the black box at this time.   The data contained in the black box will be crucial in determining what happened on the plane moments before it was shot down.

Rebels find black boxes

Announcement0 Comments

Alexander Borodai, a Ukraine rebel leader, says the black boxes have been found at the crash site and will be handed over to  the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Flight number MH17 retired

Announcement0 Comments

In a statement from Malaysia Airlines, the company says out of respect for the passengers and crew who died when the plane was shot down the  flight number MH17 will be retired next week. The new flight number for the planes that fly that route will be MH19. They add

Our thoughts and prayers remains with the families of our colleagues and passengers of MH 17.

27 more bodies recovered

Death Count0 Comments

Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman reports that 27 more bodies have been recovered from the crash site, bring the number of recovered bodies to 233.  He adds that the rebel separatists are keeping the remains of 192 victims in refrigerated train cars and that there are ongoing talks pertaining to the release of those remains.

Sky News apologizes

Sky NewsApology0 Comments

Sky News reporter Colin Brazier, while on air at the crash site, picks up and shows items from a victim’s suitcase. Almost immediately he realizes that he should not be doing this and says so out loud during the report. Both Brazier and Sky News “apologize profusely for any offence caused.”

Airline offers refunds

Announcement0 Comments

Malaysia Airlines announces it will offer full refunds to any passengers who wish to cancel their reservations.  They are also waiving any fees involved for customers wanting to change their travel plans, including tickets specified as non-refundable.  This is in response to the two recent incidents involving their planes, flights MH370 and MH17.

Our Enrich passengers will also receive fee waivers for any changes to their travel itinerary, as well as refunds of miles should they choose to cancel their redemption tickets.

This waiver is applicable for any travel booked between July 18th and December 31st of this year. The airline has already suffered losses amounting to $1.3 billion over the previous three years, before the tragedies occurred.

Truce Requested By Rebels To Allow Probe

0 Comments

Pro-Russian separatists will allow safe access to monitors if there is a truce from Kiev. Andrei Purgin, deputy PM of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said his troops would “guarantee the safety of international experts on the scene” as soon as a deal with Ukraine was struck on a ceasefire.