Malaysia Airlines statements on MH17

[sn26567]

Friday, July 18, 08:20 PM GMT +0800 Media Statement 4 : MH17 Incident
Media Statement 4: MH17 Incident

1. Flight plan

MH17’s flight plan was approved by Eurocontrol, who are solely responsible for determining civil aircraft flight paths over European airspace. Eurocontrol is the air navigation service provider for Europe and is governed under ICAO rules.

The route over Ukrainian airspace where the incident occurred is commonly used for Europe to Asia flights. A flight from a different carrier was on the same route at the time of the MH17 incident, as were a number of other flights from other carriers in the days and weeks before. Eurocontrol maintains records of all flights across European airspace, including those across Ukraine.

In April, the International Civil Aviation Organization identified an area over the Crimean peninsula as risky. At no point did MH17 fly into, or request to fly into, this area. At all times, MH17 was in airspace approved by the ICAO.

2. Altitude

MH17 filed a flight plan requesting to fly at 35,000ft throughout Ukrainian airspace. This is close to the ‘optimum’ altitude.

However, an aircraft’s altitude in flight is determined by air traffic control on the ground. Upon entering Ukrainian airspace, MH17 was instructed by Ukrainian air traffic control to fly at 33,000ft.

3. Nationalities

Following this afternoon’s press conference, Malaysia Airlines can confirm that a further 16 passengers’ nationalities have been verified. The latest breakdown of nationalities of those on board the flight is as follows:

· 189 Netherlands

· 44 Malaysia

· 27 Australia

· 12 Indonensia

· 9 UK

· 4 Belgium

· 4 Germany

· 3 Philippines

· 1 Canada

· 1 New Zealand

Four passengers’ nationalities remain to be verified.

4. New flight route

Following this incident, Malaysia Airlines now avoids Ukrainian airspace entirely, flying further south over Turkey.

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[quixoticguide]

Saturday, July 19, 11:40 AM GMT +0800 Media Statement 6: MH17 Incident
Media Statement 6: MH17 Incident

The below table shows the latest number of passengers and their nationalities of those on-board MH17, as of 19 July 2014:

Nationality - Total

Netherlands: 192 (including 1 dual Netherlands/USA citizen)
Malaysia: 44 (including 15 crew & 2 infants)
Australia: 27
Indonesia: 12 (including 1 infant)
United Kingdom: 10 (including 1 dual UK/S. Africa citizen)
Germany: 4
Belgium: 4
Philippines: 3
Canada: 1
New Zealand: 1

Total: 298





Malaysia Airlines is working closely with the respective embassies to notify the next-of-kin of the passengers.

Our focus now is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support to provide all possible care to the next-of-kin.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members.

The airline will provide regular updates on the situation.

Families of passengers and crew may contact +603 7884 1234 (Malaysia) or +31703487770 (Netherlands).

For media queries, kindly contact +603 8777 5698/ +603 8787 1276.

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[sn26567]

Belgium has officially reported 6 victims. Not four like in the Malaysian Airlines release above. One of the two additional 'Belgians' has the double nationality Belgium/Netherlands and is living in Groningen (NL); therefore he is probably reported under the Dutch victims. What about the other one?

[sn26567]

OK, I got the answer to my question: the 6th Belgian is an expatriate living in Australia, and therefore probably counted as an Australian. The four Belgians living in Belgium are from Namur (1), Brasschaat (2) and Wetteren (1).

[sn26567]

Monday, July 21, 06:19 PM GMT +0800 Media Statement 9 : MH17 Incident

Malaysia Airlines' primary focus is to care for the family members affected by MH17. The airline will be supporting the families during these trying times and will be providing them hotel accommodation, meals, and transport assistance. At the same time, the airline has assigned caregivers (who are trained Malaysia Airlines’ staff) for each family member to provide emotional support and basic needs. To date, 79 caregivers and other support staff are in Amsterdam, whilst 43 are based in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia Airlines is very grateful to be working alongside KLM, who have been assisting it in supporting the family members from the outset.

As goodwill, to ease the immediate families of the passengers with their economic needs, the airline is also offering a financial assistance of USD5,000 to the families of each passenger. Funds have already been made available for this purpose. Citibank has supported Malaysia Airlines with the logistical arrangements for the fund transfer. This financial assistance will not be offset against the final compensation nor affect the families’ legal rights to claim.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines will be organising a multi-faith prayer session for both staff and the public at large. Further details will be advised at a later date.

The airline requests the cooperation from members of the media to respect the privacy of the grieving families. Malaysia Airlines’ top priority remains to provide care and assistance to the families of the passengers and crew and any information with regard to their personal circumstances will not be made public.

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[sn26567]

Tuesday, July 22, 08:49 PM GMT +0800
Response to the Arrival of Bodies at Kharkiv by Liow Tiong Lai, Minister of Transport

1. We are relieved that the train has safely arrived at Kharkiv about 11am local time.

2. This is an important milestone in relation to the MH17 tragedy.

3. Malaysia sent 18 DVI personnel to Kharkiv to assist in the tagging and transfer of bodies to the plane, I have been briefed that the forensics team and relevant support teams will now have to undergo a process that will take a few hours prior to the remains being flown off to Amsterdam.

4. We still need to get to the truth of what has happened and we hope for the investigators to commence their work at the crash site to determine this.

5. Families are suffering across the world and once the remains are with the respective families, I am sure they will demand for justice to be served on those who have caused this horrific crime.

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Tuesday, July 22, 06:45 PM GMT +0800
Prime Minister Najib Razak Welcomes Progress on MH17 Agreement

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has today welcomed progress in the agreement Malaysia brokered with rebel leaders, and praised the Malaysian team for their work in securing the return of the remains of the victims, and taking custody of the black boxes.

Speaking today, Prime Minister Najib Razak said:

“Last night, I reached an agreement with Alexander Borodai to bring an end to the standoff over the MH17 crash site. Our agreement rested on three conditions:

the return of the remains of those who lost their lives;
the handover of the black boxes;
and full access to the crash site so that the investigation may begin.

“I am pleased to confirm that the first two conditions have now been met. The train carrying the remains of those who lost their lives has arrived in Kharkhiv, where arrangements will be made to move them to Amsterdam.

“And the Malaysian team have taken custody of the black boxes, which appear to be in good condition. They will held securely in Malaysian custody while the international investigation team is being formalised. At that time, we will pass the black boxes to the international investigation team for further analysis.

“These were extraordinary circumstances which called for extraordinary measures. There were risks involved in pursuing this agreement. But we felt an obligation to explore all avenues to break the impasse, and secure the return of the remains and the black boxes. After meeting the families, I felt that we owed it to them to act.

“So far, the agreement has been honoured. Malaysia requests that this co-operation continue, and that investigators are granted the full access to the site which was agreed.

“I am relieved that we have been able to secure the breakthrough that has allowed us to move forward.

“I would like to thank the Malaysian team on the ground, who have worked hard to support this operation. Thanks to their efforts, we are closer to finding out what happened to aircraft, and fulfilling our shared responsibility to those who lost their lives.”

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[sn26567]

Sunday, July 27, 05:33 PM GMT +0800
MALAYSIA SECURES AGREEMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICE DEPLOYMENT TO MH17 CRASH SITE

Malaysia has secured an agreement with Ukrainian separatists, who control the area around the MH17 crash site, to allow a group of international police personnel to enter the area in order to provide protection for international crash investigators.

Pursuant to the earlier agreement between Prime Minister Najib Razak and Alexander Borodai, leader of the separatist forces, Mr Borodai today agreed to allow a deployment of international police personnel to enter the crash site.

Prime Minister Najib has today spoken to the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Australia, and the three grieving countries have agreed to work closely together in deploying police personnel.

68 Malaysian police personnel will leave Kuala Lumpur for the crash site on Wednesday as part of the international deployment.

Under the original three point agreement brokered between Prime Minister Najib and Mr Borodai last week, the Ukrainian separatists agreed to:
- transfer the black boxes to Malaysia;
- handover the human remains to international officials;
- and grant full access to the crash site for international investigators.

So far, international air crash investigators have been unable to properly deploy across the vast crash site in eastern Ukraine and collect evidence due to ongoing security concerns, including continued military activity. Malaysia calls for an immediate cessation of all military activities in and around the crash site.

Malaysia is concerned that these security concerns are preventing full and unfettered access to the site, and therefore a proper, independent investigation from being carried out. Moreover, Malaysia is particularly concerned that some human remains may still be at the crash site.

Malaysian officials are discussing the details of the police deployment with the Netherlands and Australia. Malaysian Foreign Minister, Anifah Aman, has been speaking to his international counterparts and officials from the Ukrainian government on the legal and diplomatic framework for the deployment.

Malaysian Transport Minister, Liow Tiong Lai, has been leading on the MH17 investigation, working closely with the head of the investigation in the Netherlands.

SPEAKING EARLIER TODAY, PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK SAID:

“I am deeply concerned that international investigators have been unable to properly deploy to the crash site because of the volatile security situation. It is imperative that we deploy a full team of investigators to ensure that all the human remains are removed from the site, identified and repatriated. Everyone who was on board MH17 must be afforded proper dignity and respect.

“We also need a full deployment of investigators to have unfettered access to the crash site so we can understand precisely what happened to MH17. I hope that this agreement with Mr Borodai will ensure security on the ground, so the international investigators can conduct their work.

“Three grieving nations have formed a coalition to secure the site. Through our joint deployment of police personnel, the Netherlands, Australia and Malaysia will work together to achieve justice for the victims.”

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