Monday, September 29, 2014

Russian Engineers Say Malaysian Airline Shot Down by Fighter Jet

The Russian Union of Professional Engineers conclude in their report that Malaysian Flight MH17 was shot down by a jet fighter probably belonging to Ukraine's armed forces since the rebels are not equipped with aircraft and both sides agree there were no Russian aircraft in the vicinity. After examing flight recorder data and wreckage, the technical experts point to several facts about the crash to support their conclusion: holes about the size of 30mm aircraft cannon rounds are clearly visible in pieces of fuselage wreckage; the pilots did not issue a distress call because cannon fire from ahead caused immediate decompression of their cockpit; Russian military radars detected a fighter flying on an intercept course at a lower altitude than the airliner. The experts suggest the interceptor emerged from a cloud layer in front of Flight MH17, fired with its 30mm cannon killing the crew, and then proceed to the rear of the airliner from where it launched air-to-air missles. The damaged Boeing airliner then rapidly decompressed and fell from 10,000 meters breaking up at high altitude. That scenario is consistent with the extensive debris field. The United States has repeatedly maintained the airliner was downed by a surface-to-air missle launched by Russian supported rebels. Dutch accident experts have yet to release their findings.