flash8 - 20th Jul 2014, 06:28
Any element of truth in the rumours that Ukrainian ATC requested the a/c descend FL330 before it was allegedly hit by a SAM?
"MH17 climbed from FL310 to FL330 as it entered Ukraine from Poland and SQ351 was at FL330 when it entered Ukraine from Belarus. SQ351 later climbed to FL350 as the two planes converged while MH17 stayed at FL330. ATC's discretion to maintain separation? The 2 planes were quite close (~25-30km) to each other when MH was downed.
...approx positions from flightradar24.com at 1320UTC for both SQ351 and MH17, SQ351 is at FL350 and MH17 at FL330.
The area both planes were in were off-limits from FL260 to FL320 according to UKDV NOTAM A1492/14."
Quote from
here.