FLIGHT MH17 - Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 timeline

Published: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 1:43:00 AM
Updated: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 2:41:03 AM

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 timeline

BY DINA MURAD

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane has reportedly crashed in Ukraine near Russian border.

The plane, MH17, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 280 passengers and 15 crew members.

Thursday, July 17

6pm: Scheduled time of departure of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17, a boeing 777, from Amsterdam Airport.

6.15pm: MH17 departed from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew.

10.15pm: MAS confirms it received notification from Ukrainian Air Traffic Control (ATC) that it had lost contact with MH17 at 30km from Tamak waypoint, approximately 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border.

11.30pm: MH17 presumably crashed. MAS releases official tweet,“Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.”

11.40pm: Moscow based news agency Interfax says Malaysian passenger airliner was shot down at altitude of 10 km above Eastern Ukraine.

> They confirmed the location of a burning Malaysian plane in Eastern Ukraine.

> The Ukrainian Interior Ministry also confirmed that all passengers and crew are dead. The aircraft was “shot down” while cruising at an altitude of 30,000ft.

> Igor Strelkov, the military commander of pro-Russia separatists, posted on social media shortly before MH17’s crash that rebel forces had brought down an Antonov An-26, an aircraft commonly used by Ukrainian forces, in the same area.

 Friday, July 18

12.03am: Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk orders an investigation into the crash.

12.05am: Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tweets, “I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation.”

12.18am: Ukrainian officials at the location of the crash confirm at least 100 bodies are found at the location and that body parts were scattered up to 15km from the site.

12.30am: Both Ukrainian authorities and rebel leaders deny shooting down MH17. A ground-to-air missile was the suspected to have brought down the aircraft.  

> Russian President Vladimir Putin is in contact with United States president Barrack Obama on the crash, according to RIA news agency. 

12.45am: Location of the crash site was revealed to be the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region.

02.10am: At least four French nationals were onboard MH17, says French foreign minister Laurent Fabius.

02.28am: Interfax reports that Pro-Russian separatists claim to have found MH17’s black box.

6.10am: Crashed MH17 scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Malaysia.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my