and this

https://twitter.com/varlamov/status/...544640/photo/1

SA 6
 

Words on Dutch TV: shotdown by SA 6

This NOTAM is about Crimea and international waters, not that territory.

And for those writing about Russia, the plane was in a Ukranian airspace and crashed on the Ukranian territory,

"CNN just reported on-air that pro-Russian separatists claimed to have shot down a second Ukrainian military plane shortly before the report of MH17 being missing. They were careful not to say the planes were one and the same, but the lack now of a downed Ukrainian plane does make one wonder."

Cue rumors and conspiracy theories, but apparently there were some tweets...

NOTAM or otherwise, I don't understand why commercial traffic is flying over a conflict zone where only days ago a transport aircraft was shot down at high altitude. Absolutely bonkers.

There are people in Ukraine / Russia who know who pulled the trigger to launch this " assumed " SAM , they will be found and they will be punished.
Considering all the time spent searching for the reasons of MH 370's disappearance , the search for the culprits in this case will be swifter and far more determined.
If it was a national military involved , a ban on their nations' airlines would at least be a minimal consideration.

Potentially OT, but lots of traffic is transitting this area as many companies have routed traffic north of Irak coming up towards Europe. I passed the exact same spot early this morning as SLF.

I would not hold my breath for anyone getting punished. Look up what happened to the Russians that brought down KAL007, and Americans that brought down Iran Air 655.

It's all about keeping the accountants happy by taking the shortest possible route until it all goes wrong, like today. I doubt that you will be able to get an MH accountant to answer the phone right now. I hope they sleep well tonight.

Nickfisher, he means the Itavia DC-9 (Italian) in the 80s.

First, the plane was shot well inside the Ukrainian territory. The "Buk" system cannot operate at such ranges if it were deployed on the Russian territory.



Second, the Ukrainian army does have Buk systems. And they are notorious for erroneously shooting down a plane coming from Israel to Russia some 10-15 years ago. However, I can hardly believe they did it, unless anybody went totally mad or planned a provocation to blame Russia.


There were unconfirmed rumors that the Ukrainian rebels in the south-eastern part of the country have recently got 1-2 Buk complexes after their successful offensive towards some (Ukrainian) army locations (home bases). In a similar way they got some IFVs and artillery systems earlier because the army is very weak. If the latter is true and the system is operative and in use, then most likely the rebels thought it was a transport aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force. They shot down one or two of them very recently.



Anyway, there should be E-3 Sentry and also the Russian A-50s monitoring the conflict area from far away, so the records should exist. Also, the flight recorders should not be damaged.

Ukrainian rebel commander posted something about shooting down a Antonov at about the same time MH flight crasht......I can see it happening that way, rebel crew with a missile system of what they are not exact sure how to handle it, let alone being able to recognize plane types on FL 33.

I cannot believe that the Russians would have shot this aircraft down, or that he Ukrainian Government would have either.

The rebels, now that's another story.

But please keep in mind, all we really know is that it crashed.

This NOTAM apparently refers to the Russian takeover of the Crimea:

Reuters 03 Apr. 2014

Europe safety agency urges airlines to avoid Crimean airspace | Reuters

I could not find any NOTAM warning against overflying of the war theater, even after several aircraft had been shot down.

According to a BBC interview of an ex ambassador to the Ukraine, a pro-Russian rebel leader has admitted they shot MH17 down, thinking it was a Ukrainian transport plane.

Ukraine shot down a Russian airliner in 2001
 

Ukraine admits it shot down Russian airliner - Telegraph

Departed Tel Aviv so the Israeli's got involved in the investigation.

This a/c came down near the Ukrainian/Russian border surely the slant range will almost certainly mean the missile started life in Russia from a ground based truck
If this is proved this could lead to war.

The rebels have removed references to the shooting down of another AN26 that they posted earlier today.

AP reported the rebels had a Buk launcher.

I am jumping to conclusions here. :(

The rebels did it.