Originally Posted by
ATC Watcher
WideScreen :
That is subject to lot of controversy. Who knew what when and the motivation to keep the upper airspace open to get the revenue (in hard currency) of the overflying charges badly needed by Ukraine was there , bearing in mind it is the same Gvernement authority that both collect those charges and declare if the airspace is safe or not. .
Todays' Wikipedia is rather explicit
emphasis on "today" )
Wikipedia is a great source, though unfortunately not really suitable for controversial subjects, since everybody can "edit", etc.
Originally Posted by
ATC Watcher
Did the Civil Ukrainian CAA knew ? They say no, But some Western airlines did had some info because they avoided all of the Ukrainian airspace from the beginning of June. ( one and half months before MH17) taking longer routings and additional costs.
But it is all hindsight and without proofs..
Yep, there were airlines already avoiding Ukraine overflight, though it never surfaces with factual information around the "why". Not to say, my impression is, this was more based on a general "be careful", avoid war zones, than practical information about real threats (the Ukraine Buks were out-of-order, so not relevant).
Correct me, when I am wrong, though my memory says, there were other reputable airlines (SQ ???), also overflying Ukraine, on the same day. QF/KE were already avoiding the Ukraine airspace. And, let us be realistic, how easy is it, to judge on your own, whether an airspace at the other side of the world is safe to use, when the local airspace "owner" gives a green ? This would be a lot easier to determine for airlines, hosted "around the corner".
Not to say, the JIT has investigated this whole and never did come up, that additional info was available for Ukraine or the airlines, that the airspace above FL250/320 would be unsafe. Given the "unsafe airspace" is one of Russians defenses, it can be expected, the JIT did focus on this subject. The general no-nonsense, no cover-up approach Dutch people tend to have, makes it also not likely, information around this subject is kept secret.
Originally Posted by
ATC Watcher
For the second part of your post, I fully agree. They are going back in the early Soviet era.
Yeah ....