To say a 1000 posts and no facts is wrong.

The photographs and consequent reconstructions were (and still are) very informative, they showed point position of missile to aircraft without doubt, they also showed an airborne break up had occurred, and in what order.

@Teejoo

No, the identification effort hasn't finished yet. But they will soon run out of material.

@ACMS

According to the search maps, that area has been searched but not completely by the dutch. Most interest goes to the areas that have not been searched yet by Ukraine and Dutch investigators.
Because of the gliding angle, it is unlikely that bodies and debris can be found deep into the soil. But you never know.

The maps are here:
Delen rampgebied MH17 door niemand doorzocht | RTL Nieuws
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/bestande...ering-1600.gif

If you look carefull at the bottom link map, you see that the crash site is partly orange, meaning unsafe area, not searched.

The areas 58 - 75 probably hold only lighter material, like internal panels, parts of the ceiling etc. Little chance to find victims there.

As someonw who had lost some dear friends on this tragic flight, I am utterly dismayed at the political agenda of both the Ukranian as well pro - Russian rebel crowd in regurgitating news reports that serve their patrons.

What is most telling that stymie the investigation is the REFUSAL TO HAND OVER ATC TAPES. :*

Please post news reports about that.

Refusal to hand over tapes
 

Unfortunately the "News" to Ukraine refusing to cooperate is part of the Maskirovka from Russian media system. Intentional with government sanction, your guess is as good as mine.

However it's not factual and a downright lie that Ukrainian ATC or UKATSE would not have handed their ATC recordings to the investigators.

An exert from the interim accident reports states:

The replay of the CVR matched ATC communications with the aircraft (see ATC transcript). The recording also included crew communication which gave no indication that there was anything abnormal with the flight.

Indicating that Ukraine would have provided the transcripts.


Further

2.5.4

ATC transcript UkSATSE provided the recording and a transcript of the radio (RAD) and telephone communications regarding flight MH17.


Spreading ill educated lies, origins of which are from the spam factory is neither helpful nor does it contribute to the discussion but rather diverts the attention away from actual facts and what are known as facts. Same category as the SU25 shoot down theories, a fabrication.

There was a very bias ed documentary on RT this morning pointing the finger at Ukraine, I hope others get the chance to see it as it seemed to be a load of smoke and mirrors, either that or all the evidence so far is only presumed..

The greates help to the investigation would be if someone came, loaded the wreckage on trucks, and transported it to some hangar to conduct a proper investigation.
A chemical analysis could provide evidence of explosives or the abrasion of projectiles.
A blast pattern could be established.
The breakup could be put into context with the timeline.

According to one of the videos, the military of Donetsk's Peoples Republic would grant free access.
But noone is interested. No dutch team, no americans, no EU.
On what are the investigators working now if they are some 3000km away from the wreck?

On the other 777 they are spending millions and millions to find at least a little piece, but on this one they try to write a report without research.
Looks like all "proof" will be supplied by "government sources"...

Whatever the outcome of this investigation will be must be doubted.


PS: Just imagine what it must feel like for the locals to have all this bent metal on their fields, and to have to look at it every day.

>military of Donetsk's Peoples Republic would grant free access

Currently inspectors are on the site gathering people's belongings.

But it is still an active war zone, some 20km from the front line. (very heavy fighting at Debaltseve 10km (or so) from nearest plane debris, 25km from Hrabove)
Untill recently the area has had limited access and the rest considered dangerous.

Other than that, yes, really weird why some of the wreck is still there (only stolen parts moved away).

More... my 100% amateur estimation of the situation on crash zone (under current "ceasefire"):

Rebel motorized howizers and Grad lauchers move around the area to daily shell Ukrainian positions, there might be ammunition flying above the crash site even.
When Ukrainian postitions are attacked, Ukraine artilery radars find out the trajectory of the hostile fire and they most likely fire back to the previous estimated location of the howizer or grad launcher.
Howizers reach 20...55 km depending on ammunition, grad rockets roughly similarly. (I assume rebels do not have the latest far reaching ammunition, though)

So, I could be totally wrong, but as the ceasefire is very fragile, it is insanely dangerous to be on the crash site.

UPDATE: In the following image the yellow line is the front line, it even crosses the MH17 debris zone. Also one can see how close the shells hit.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0uZ5TjIUAAc4-k.png

Safety of the crash site
 

In earlier posts I mentioned the dutch uncle that went to look for the remains of his niece, and who is still in the area. He wrote on Twitter he had to take shelter when a bomb exploded close to his hotel.

MH17-nabestaande in Oekraïne schuilt voor bom | RTL Nieuws

He was very angry that the dutch didn't restart the investigation and recovery effort, but after being at the crash site, and experiencing the fighting around him he, at least in part, has more understanding to the dutch position.

Because of him, Dutch parlement has less understanding of the dutch position, so pressure is put on the kabinet:

"Als burgers zoals deze mijnheer naar dit gebied kunnen, is het toch ook te doen voor onderzoekers", zegt Kamerlid Harry van Bommel (SP) in de krant.

If civilians like this gentleman can go to the crash area, than it should also be possible for the investigators.

A safe crash site does mean something in this case, because the crash site is 30 square km in size, about a quarter or third or so of the rebel strongholds. Something to remember.

handing over the black boxes
 

Because some people think that the rebels were nice to hand over the FDR and CVR to the malayans, some background information might be prudent here.

First of all, shortly after the disaster, the rebels claimed to have found de CVR and FDR more than once, but it seemed that finally they got their hands on the right orange boxes.

Officially the Ukraine government should carry out the investigation. The rebels would never turn the CVR/FDR over to the government, obviously from pure distrust. No party would ever consider that an Ukraine investigation would be independent, even if it was. So the Ukraine transfered the investigation responsibility to the dutch, because they have the most victims and are certainly more neutral and considered a friendly EU nation.

The rebels only wanted to turn the CVR/FDR to Russia and let Russia do the investigation, simply because they trust their ally. However, Russia refused, because accepting the boxes and handing these over to the Dutch would make Russia vulnerable for accusations of manipulation of the boxes. Just like Ukraine, Russia, being a party in the conflict, is incredible as a lead investigator.

Malaysia, Australia and The Netherlands didn't want to go directly to the rebels because doing so would imply a legal status to the DNR or whatever they call themselves. The rebels wanted a public show for the transfer of the boxes, because it makes good propaganda. Malaysia considered the recovery of the CVR/FDR more important than the propaganda gain for the DNR.

It is however questionable, with the rebels who aim at close relations with Russia, and Ukraine goverment who aim at close relations with the EU, that an EU-country like The Netherlands, despite having a history of good relations with Russia, is considered a neutral authority by the rebels. A malaysian or IATA led investigation would not have that problem.

MH17 prosecutor open to theory another plane shot down airliner: Der Spiegel MH17 prosecutor open to theory another plane shot down airliner: Der Spiegel | Reuters

Here is the Original:
Westerbeke: Ausgehend von den vorliegenden Informationen ist der Abschuss durch eine Boden-Luft-Rakete in meinen Augen noch immer das wahrscheinlichste Szenario. Aber wir verschließen nicht die Augen vor der Möglichkeit, dass es anders gewesen sein könnte.
Based on the available information, the launch is by a ground - to-air missile in my eyes is still the most likely scenario . But we do not close our eyes to the possibility that it might have been different.

MH17: Ermittler Westerbeke über den Absturz in der Ukraine - SPIEGEL ONLINE

What I see 'there', is a transcript, in German..

Was the actual interview indeed conducted in German, given that it apparently took place in Amsterdam..(?)

What only could be called 'original', in my book, would be UNCUT recording of the interview from start to finish.

Please also notice that in English version of Spiegel website there is an English transcript, and in neiter of the 2 one can find any clue about the actual language been used, as well as any hint why Spiegel was given such interview in first place.

And the used headlines do differ significantly -

English:
Chief MH17 Investigator on German Claims: 'We Will Need Evidence'


German:

MH17-Chefermittler Westerbeke: "Wissen die Russen womöglich mehr?"

My own question - what else is 'tuned' in the content for the respective reader audiences?

If you allow me to help with a translation from the Spiegel. Reuters omitted one question completely, thus falsifying the understanding of the complete statement.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Since some time Moskau is distributing the opinion, that the passenger jet was shot down by an ukraininina combat aircraft. You think that is possible?

"Based on the information available, a shooting-down by a ground-to-air missile is the most likely scenario, but we aren't closing our eyes to the possibility that it could have happened differently." .

Hope that helps

Keep in mind that this is the same prosecutor who, after a month of investigation, could only determine with certainty that MH17 was destroyed by "high-energy objects from outside the aircraft". The current comment should probably be taken to understand that they are leaning towards a surface-to-air missile, but they can't rule out a Ukrainian Su-25, a meteorite, debris from a disintegrated spy satellite, or a particularly powerful (high-energy) hex cast on the aircraft or one of its passenger by a voodoo priest.

I wonder why Westerbeke is open to the possibility that the source of the high energy objects was something other than a ground to air missile.

The last Westerbeke was in the news regarding MH17 was Sept. 12 when he said that investigators were particularly interested in 25 metal objects recovered from bodies and luggage. 500 foreign objects were found, but the focus was on 25 of them. This strikes me as selecting a sample to fit a theory rather than examining the whole population of foreign objects with a willingness to follow where the evidence leads.

Dutch hope metal shards will lead them to missile that hit MH17 | Reuters
BBC News - MH17 crash: Investigation focuses on '25 metal shards'

On Sept. 12 Westerbeke seemed confident that the sample would confirm that MH17 was shot down by a ground to air missile. Now, having plenty of time to thoroughly examine the sample of foreign metal objects, Westerbeke is open to the possibility that something other than a ground to air missile was the cause.

What does Westerbeke know that underlies his present position?

He specifically notes that the Russians may have more information regarding this event, so he does not exclude the second airplane hypothesis.
Overall, his comments, including his little aside that it took 3 years to determine who was responsible for Lockerbie, seem very professional.

Maybe the Dutch are waiting for the "irrefutable evidence" claimed by SecState Kerry to be in the possession of the US or the "mountain of evidence" claimed by Obama.
Maybe the Dutch are confused by the entry AND apparent exit holes in the structure remaining of the Captains window frame.

The phrase about "high-energy objects" is from Dutch Safety Board which insists: The prosecutor is What relation prosecutors have to the Dutch Safety Board?

The article you linked says:I take it as 25 pieces of shrapnel from 500 pieces of bodies?

They receive the information from the Board. Unfiltered, contrary to the public. Otherwise they should be completely independent. Findings of the board can not be used as evidence in court.

Because there is no clear evidence? It is good practice to be open to other possibilities unless one scenario is confirmed by clear evidence. It should be fairly obvious that it has been a missile, but you can not rule out an air-to-air missile yet.

That should allow to finally proof which type of missile was used. I wonder whether the dutch get samples of a BUK from Russia/Ukraine for comparison...

Probably most shrapnell looks quite the same, it is a small amount of fragments that are very unique for each type of missile, so it makes sense to concentrate on those.