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Malaysia Airlines MH 17 crash in Ukraine (17 July 2014 - PLEASE READ WIKI, FAQ)

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Old Jul 17, 2014, 9:40 am
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Malaysia Airlines MH 17 crash in Ukraine (17 July 2014 - PLEASE READ WIKI, FAQ)

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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:10 pm
  #571  
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As I was getting ready, husband hurried in to the bathroom and said... quick another Malaysia Airlines plane has gone down. OMG I just feel sick. What is going on in the world. 27 Aussies on board. It could been any of us.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:13 pm
  #572  
 
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Originally Posted by N639DL
You can view translations directly from Twitter...it's obviously not perfect but if you are on someone's page and click on a tweet, it will bring up all the information about the tweet, and if it isn't in English there should be an option to view the translation.

This tweet was published at 5:06pm from NYC time:


https://twitter.com/spainbuca/status/489878810066972672
The tweet linked here says "The military [whose military?] confirms to ATC that the missile was a Ukraine military missile". It doesn't say that it was fired BY Ukraine military.

Some of the main points made by the poster:
  • It says that right before the plane disappeared from the radar, it was being escorted by to fighter jets and that it was not shot down by one of those fighter jets.
  • Ss soon as the plane disappeared, Kiev's military confirmed it had been shot down -he asks, how did they know so soon?
  • The military there don't know who gave the order but that they are "certain" that it didn't come from pro-Russian militias.
  • Military personnel wanted to rise against Urkaine's president and that this might be their way of doing it.
  • He also says there's foreign personnel in the ATC with no explanation given why. [He doesn't say where they come from]


I'd take this with a grain of salt. I mean, it seems that he's an air traffic controller, but also he's only source is RT, which we know is heavily biased.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:17 pm
  #573  
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Originally Posted by Jenni_Kit
This comes from Facebook originally - I won't post the link but it is easy to find. There is a conversation in the comments section that appears genuine. Friends and family of the two victims saying happy holiday etc. then reports of the crash by some family/friends and reactions to it. Then condolences etc. Timing is right as well. The account and reactions seem genuine - maybe the poster used an old photo, maybe there was a change of plane.
The Facebook comment thread may or may not be genuine, but the media is circulating the photo as the last known picture of the doomed airliner, etc. which it certainly is not.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:20 pm
  #574  
 
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Originally Posted by LAXative
This was brought up on NPR coverage, but what contradicts that assertion is that the pro-Russian separatists have no air force to speak of, so what reason would the Ukrainian military have to fire off any SAMs?
Regarding the Spanish speaking airport controller. Even if you use a translating tool, I think you can miss a couple of things in the automated translation. He claims a couple of things:
  • The flight was escorted by two fighter jets (Ukranian) up to 3 mins before losing contact.
  • Missile was picked up by military radars but not civilian radars. - I don't know how he would know this -.
  • Ukraine army took over the tower with 'foreign personnel' shortly after the plane was confirmed shot down. Note that accident was never in the picture.
  • Informal chatter was that Ukraine took it down but it was unclear who gave the order
  • The missile came from an area that was known to not be occupied by rebels
  • Since the army took over the tower on short notice, knew that the plane was shot down and didn't deny that it was from the Ukranian army makes him believe that it was planned.
  • He later backtracks and says that it may have been a Ukraine army soldier that was too trigger-happy and was NOT following orders

He is sure Kiev is to blame and has over 10,000 tweets on the account.

Make from the above what you will.

Last edited by MrShyGuy; Jul 17, 2014 at 4:25 pm
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:24 pm
  #575  
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VK.com's page is now disclaiming any relationship to Strelkov.

https://vk.com/strelkov_info?w=wall-57424472_7256
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:24 pm
  #576  
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Originally Posted by Pseudo Nim
Can someone Spanish-speaking browse through this account? https://twitter.com/spainbuca

Apparently a traffic controller who works in Borispol. Not sure if relevant, but makes some peculiar claims.
Discussion and argument, with a link to an unverified source stating a military controller in Borispol stated the MH 777 was under escort by two Ukrainian fighters within minutes prior to it's being shot down, as stated my MrShyGuy.

Needless to say, we do not have any definitive and factual information about the cause of the crash at this time.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:26 pm
  #577  
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Originally Posted by JDiver
Discussion and argument, with a link to an unverified source stating a military controller in Borispol stated the MH 777 was under escort by two Ukrainian fighters immediately prior to it's being shot down.
Ok, sounds like more conjecture, considering even "eyewitness accounts" only claimed a single plane.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:33 pm
  #578  
 
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Absolutely terrible tragedy but why was MH17 flying through this area in the first place? I understand that some airlines were giving the region a wide berth but most were not. Seems to point to unbelievably poor security management by some airlines when there were clear reports of military aircraft being shot down by SAM's in recent days. The FAA had issued a warning in April but I've also seen reports that MH17 was brought down outside the warning corridor.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:34 pm
  #579  
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Andrii Kuzmenko (the acting Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom) asserts in an interview with Newsnight today that the Ukraine does not and did not have the Buk system in the area of the conflict at all.

"We don't have in the military or the national guard right now the weapons capable of shooting down the airliner at such an altitude. [...] We have in Ukraine the Buk missiles, but not in the area of the conflict."

He also finds it 'suspicious' that the black boxes were (allegedly) already found by the separatists.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:35 pm
  #580  
 
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I just stepped out of a plane and I'm speechless, I can't believe it really happened. My thoughts and prayers are with all those involved in this terrible tragedy.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:36 pm
  #581  
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Sad day for aviation. RIP MH17.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:37 pm
  #582  
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The person who ultimately launched the SAM was not an idiot. Let's face it, if he was, they wouldn't have put him in charge in the first place, right? On second thought, maybe he was indeed an idiot and couldn't tell what kind of plane he was targeting before firing the SAM?
I think the only thing that can be assumed is that it was a tragic error in judgment that someone has made.

Last edited by aBroadAbroad; Jul 17, 2014 at 6:57 pm Reason: Removed reply to deleted content; please use alert button for inappropriate content instead of posting in thread
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:46 pm
  #583  
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American position on this is that a surface to air missile took down the plane. The "who" part is still being worked on.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07...resident-says/

Also we got this gem of a quote in there:

Aviation authorities in several countries, including the FAA in the United States, had issued warnings not to fly over parts of Ukraine prior to Thursday’s crash, but many airliners had continued to use the route because “it is a shorter route, which means less fuel and therefore less money,” said aviation expert Norman Shanks.

And this:

A launcher similar to the Buk missile system was seen by Associated Press journalists earlier Thursday near the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhne, which is held by the rebels.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:52 pm
  #584  
 
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Originally Posted by UnderEst
Not sure if it's been posted, but a MH17 passenger posted this on FB prior to getting on-board.



"If it disappears, this is what it looks like."
The pic shows "Romeo Charlie" but "Romeo Delta" has crashed.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 4:54 pm
  #585  
 
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Originally Posted by Calchas
Andrii Kuzmenko (the acting Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom) asserts in an interview with Newsnight today that the Ukraine does not and did not have the Buk system in the area of the conflict at all.

"We don't have in the military or the national guard right now the weapons capable of shooting down the airliner at such an altitude. [...] We have in Ukraine the Buk missiles, but not in the area of the conflict."

He also finds it 'suspicious' that the black boxes were (allegedly) already found by the separatists.
However, Ukraine does have the S300 system and the SA-8 in their arsenal. One of the big issues with S300 and the SA-11 (Buk) system is that the radar acquisition is done in another vehicle which then directs the launcher to fire. Therefore, someone should be on the lookout for another vehicle with a radar system and on some variants, there is a third vehicle that is part of the system which has support and additional command and control.

The SA-8, on the other hand comes in a TELAR (Transport, Erector, Launcher and Radar) format so that instead of needing 2-3 vehicles (the SA-11 has a TEL [Transporter, Erector, and Launcher]), it is all rolled into 1 unit. And not to mention that the SA-8 is far more mobile as it comes in an amphibious kit too.

The question is whether the press that saw the SAM nearby a few days prior, either saw an SA-11 TEL or an SA-8 TELAR.
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