The airspace over the eastern part of Ukraine
The airspace over the eastern part of Ukraine was much in use: between 14 and 17 July 2014, 61
operators from 32 countries routed their flights through this airspace. On the day of the crash, until the
airspace was closed, 160 commercial airliners flew over the area. Malaysia Airlines prepared and
operated flight MH17 in accordance with regulations. As the state of departure, the Netherlands had
no responsibility to advise Malaysia Airlines (or KLM, as its code share partner) with regard to the
chosen flight route.
On 17 July 2014 an armed conflict was taking place in the eastern part of Ukraine. In the preceding
months, the conflict had expanded into the airspace: from late April the number of military aircraft
downed increased. According to statements by the Ukrainian authorities, in two cases long-range
weapons were used. In the Dutch Safety Board’s opinion, Ukraine had sufficient reason to close the
entire airspace over the eastern part of Ukraine as a precaution. Instead, on military grounds flying at
lower altitudes was restricted. The same turns out to apply to conflict areas elsewhere in the world: it
is rare for a state to close its airspace because of an armed conflict.
Flying over conflict areas
The Dutch Safety Board has noticed that the current system of responsibilities with respect to flying
over conflict areas is inadequate. Operators assume that unrestricted airspaces are safe. When
assessing the risk, the operators do usually take into account the safety of departure and arrival
locations, but not the safety of the countries they fly over. When flying over a conflict area, an
additional risk assessment is necessary. Therefore, the Dutch Safety Board considers it extremely
important that parties involved in aviation – including states, international organisations such as ICAO
and IATA, and operators – exchange more information about conflict areas and potential threats to
civil aviation. When processing and interpreting this information, more attention should be paid to the
development of the conflict, including any increase of military activity and shootings from the ground.
States involved in an armed conflict should receive more incentives and better support to safeguard
the safety of their airspace. In addition, the Dutch Safety Board is of the opinion that operators should
give public account for their flight routes.
Passenger information
After the crash of flight MH17 was reported, many relatives gathered at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ,
hoping to obtain more information there. At the end of the evening an initial passenger list was made
public. It then took two to four days before all of the surviving relatives received confirmation from the
Dutch authorities. When gathering information related to the passenger list and determining the
identity of the occupants and their surviving relatives, the information that various parties gathered
about the victims and their relatives was not combined. The Dutch crisis organisation failed to function
properly and the government authorities involved lacked direction. In order to improve information
provision after a crash, the Dutch Safety Board recommends – among other things – that passengers’
nationalities be registered on passenger lists. The Dutch Safety Board also recommends that the
Dutch government make provisions to improve direction in case of a disaster abroad with a large
number of Dutch victims.
Reconstruction
Over the past months, a reconstruction of the forward part of the aeroplane was assembled at the Dutch
air base of Gilze-Rijen. The reconstruction clearly shows the effects of the impact and subsequent blast,
and has been important for verification and additional substantiation of the investigation’s results.

Contact
Press officers Wim van der Weegen: +31 6 23 464 277, Sara Vernooij: +31 6 23 175701, Toon van Wijk: +31 6 23 935 124 or:
+31 70 333 7000. E-mail: press@safetyboard.nl, Twitter: @onderzoeksraad.nl