Flight MH17 that crashed over a rebel-held part of eastern Ukraine two months ago split into pieces during flight after being hit by high-speed objects.
Flight MH17 that crashed over a rebel-held part of eastern Ukraine two months ago split into pieces during flight after being hit by high-speed objects.
That's the conclusion of a preliminary report into the disaster that claimed 298 lives, among them 38 Australian citizens and residents.
Kristina Kukolja has the details.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
The report by the Dutch Transport Board says the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200 was airworthy when it took off from Amsterdam, on a flight to Kuala Lumpur, on July 17.
It says the cockpit voice recorder black box, recovered from the crash site, gave no indication of any malfunction or emergency before the crash.
And the flight data recorder black box also showed no evidence of technical malfunctions or warnings.
Both recordings ended at three seconds past 1.20pm local time, as the aircraft flew at a height of 33,000 feet.
Australia and other countries have been saying they believe the plane was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired by Ukrainian rebels.
Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai says the report doesn't go quite that far.
"The report stated very clearly, it was hit by a really high-energy object from outside, inwards, and that caused the structural break-up of the plane. So you have to take that and we have to further analyse that, whether it is a missile are details and that is definitely... The report will indicate when we analyse the findings later."
The Transport Minister says the Malaysian government is still trying to gain further access to the crash site by investigators, so they can gather more forensic evidence, and more human remains.
"I would like to stress here that the crash site is a criminal investigation area and it is imperative that we protect the integrity of the crash site and allow the investigation to proceed. The Malaysian Government, led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, is striving to facilitate the process of moving into the crash site to locate the remains as well as the personal effects that are still at the crash site, if any."
Mr Liow says Malaysia is seeking international support to ensure that those responsible for bringing down MH17 are brought to justice.
"I call upon the international community and all those involved in the Ukraine conflict to seek justice and find the perpetrators who caused this brutal act of aggression. As we mourn the loss of all 288 passengers and crew, we will not relent until those responsible are brought to justice. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the passengers and crew."
A Switzerland-based aviation expert, Andrew Charlton, has told the BBC the report helps to begin to answer the question of what happened to MH17.
"The report is very factual. It tries to make no judgements, it makes no decisions. The report is very much, these are the facts, this is what we've discovered so far, this is what we know. And it certainly draws no conclusions. But yes, it's a very helpful document and puts to rest a lot of the speculation we've had to date."
There had been speculation that the cockpit and flight data recorders could have been tampered with by rebels, before they were eventually handed over to a Malaysian team, days after the crash.
Andrew Charlton says it's pleasing to find that this didn't happen.
"If there was one interesting piece of news that came out of the entire report, it was probably that the flight data recorder, the voice recorder, the famous black box, was returned to the authorities completely untampered with and uninterfered with, so that was obviously some very good news. It meant that the inquiry was able to take some real findings."
The Australian government says it remains convinced MH17 was brought down by a missile.
A government statement says the international community must remain focused on finding, prosecuting and punishing those who were responsible.
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