Malaysian Airliner 747 crashes. Did Russia shoot it down?

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 11:54am

Mixed reports, but sadly looking very likely. A plane has crashed in Ukraine, an area that has been riddled with warplanes and missiles over the past few weeks. Conflicting reports suggest the plane was shot down by Russia. If it was, what happens next? Frightening....

[Kad]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 11:56am

Here's a news article. This is a potentially very major development in the ongoing Ukraine crisis.




Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Minister, wrote on Facebook that the plane was hit by a missile fired from a Buk Launcher over the country's east, the Associated Press notes.

Updated On: 7/17/14 at 11:56 AM

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 11:59am

Are they saying that Russia was responsible?

[Kad]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 12:05pm

No one is, as of now, placing blame.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 12:05pm

Double post.

Updated On: 7/17/14 at 12:05 PM

[finebydesign]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 12:10pm

If this is true it is an act of war. Every plane in the region should be grounded.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 12:22pm

It seems like it would not have been Russia, which is not doing any shooting themselves, but the Russian-backed separatists.

However, it's seeming more likely that this was Ukraine's doing, since they were shooting separatist military planes down yesterday.

If the separatists did it, they would have done it with Russian-supplied weapons, which Putin had been denying.

.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 12:25pm

The Ukraine IS accusing the Russians of actively shooting down their (Ukraine's) aircraft...


NYT

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 12:35pm

It would be an uncharacteristically stupid blunder on Putin's part to have his military be proven to have shot down either the Ukrainian fighter planes or the Malaysian passenger plane, when all he has to do is supply the Ukrainian separatists who are more than happy to do the dirty work themselves.

But it helps the Ukrainian cause to point the finger directly at Russia, rather than at nameless, faceless, possibly sympathetic "rebels."

[tazber]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 1:05pm

All sides are denying it.

But the wreckage is easily accessible (and I'm sure very gruesome) so responsibility shouldn't be hard to determine.

What a terrible thing.

[javero]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 1:30pm

This is just bad on so many levels.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 3:46pm

It looks like the separatists did it by mistake, which the Ukrainians will use to brand them as terrorists. Putin will have to wiggle out of the fact that everything the separatists do is done with Russian supplies.


And 23 Americans were on that plane.




AFP: Rebel site suggests insurgents shot down Malaysia plane by mistake

Updated On: 7/17/14 at 03:46 PM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 5:02pm

I only hope and pray that the souls aboard that aircraft never knew what hit them, and their death was instantaneous.

May they all Rest in Peace.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 5:18pm

There were no Americans on the plane. The Ed Show on MSNBC just announced it, but I don't know if they can confirm.

Updated On: 7/17/14 at 05:18 PM

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 5:33pm

There were 23 Americans on the flight, as PJ said.

Updated On: 7/17/14 at 05:33 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 5:40pm

What news are you watching? This came out 30 minutes ago.

"It remains unclear if Americans were on board the flight, although officials said that 154 passengers, a majority, were Dutch. In addition, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians, 11 Indonesians, 6 British, 4 Belgians and 1 Canadian."


http://abcnews.go.com/International/malaysian-air-loses-contact-passenger-plane-ukraine/story?id=24599558

Updated On: 7/17/14 at 05:40 PM

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 5:54pm

European news is reporting that 23 of the ticket holders on the manifest were American. Their identities have yet to be released until the US has confirmation that they were aboard. There is a photo circulating that was taken at the scene of a pile of passports found in the wreckage, several of which are from the US. Perhaps some didn't make the flight, but no one has said there were no Americans aboard the plane.

Updated On: 7/17/14 at 05:54 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 6:09pm

One belief seems to be that the missile was never intended for the plane. One THEORY is that the missile missed its intended target, but since it is a heat seeking weapon, it found the plane.

How incredibly sad. And, of course, how bizarre for two tragedies to happen to the same airline, within such a short time.

Rest in peace to all the innocent.

(All planes have been diverted, NONE are flying over anywhere near the Russia/Ukraine border.)

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 6:14pm

That theory seems plausible, as from what I have read, they only very recently acquired these powerful missiles. A passenger jet would be flying much higher than a military plane. I just can't imagine why flights weren't already diverted, considering the recent attacks on military planes in the area.

Updated On: 7/17/14 at 06:14 PM

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 9:55pm

This gets worse and worse.


HIV/AIDS Researchers and Activists on board

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 10:05pm

Putin is trying to do heavy damage control on this.

All the lives lost were equally important.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 11:09pm

My news just reported that there has been NO confirmation whether there are any Americans on board, but did mention there may have been as many as 80 children.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 8:15am

The more than 100 scientists on board who were on way to the 20th International AIDS Conference included the man who had pioneered the antiretroviral therapy that is revolutionizing HIV prevention. He was also the world's leading expert and activist on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

He was also the father of five girls.

His loss to his family--and the whole world--is inestimable.

And Putin couldn't give a SH*T about any of that.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 10:16am

They have GOT to somehow work to secure the area and crash site. I know it covers a number of miles, and there are issues with getting the proper officials to it, but the photos of people just wandering among the debris make me sick.

The whole thing makes me sick.

Heartbreaking losses.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 10:41am

I believe the rebels now have the black box.