Description

On 17 July 2014, a Boeing 777-200ER (9M-MRD) being operated by Malaysian Airlines on a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur as MH17 was in the cruise over eastern Ukraine at FL330 in day VMC when ATC unexpectedly lost contact with it. Wreckage of the aircraft was subsequently found over a wide area east of the last known position in territory not controlled by the State, indicating that an in-flight break up had occurred. All 298 occupants were killed and damage was found to have been caused to buildings and infrastructure by falling debris.

Investigation

An Investigation was commenced by the Ukrainian National Bureau of Air Accident Investigation (NBAAI) and subsequently delegated to the Dutch Safety Board (DSB). The FDR and CVR were recovered from the wreckage by "individuals unknown to the team" and, on 21 July were "handed over to a Malaysian official in Donetsk by representatives of the armed group controlling the area". They were passed to the DSB on 22 July and subsequently successfully downloaded by the UK AAIB. No evidence or indications of manipulation of the recorders was found and both had stopped recording simultaneously 7 seconds after the last transmission received from the crew who had acknowledged a routine instruction from ATC.