MH17 crash: Dutch experts say numerous objects hit plane

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Dutch experts say Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 broke up in mid-air after being hit by "objects" that "pierced the plane at high velocity" in July. The new report also said there was "no evidence of technical or human error".

Correspondents say this matches claims that MH17 was hit by missile shrapnel.Investigators relied on cockpit data, air traffic control and images, as the crash site in eastern Ukraine remains too dangerous to access amid fighting between government troops and rebels.The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine.

All 298 people on board, most of them from the Netherlands, died when the plane came down, amid reports it was shot down by pro-Russian rebels. Tjibbe Joustra, chairman of the Dutch Safety Board, which is conducting the investigation, said a final report would take around a year to publish.

"We're trying to make the report for the next-of-kin - very important - but also for history," Mr Joustra said.

The crash site was in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, making the investigation even more difficult

Analysis: Richard Westcott, Transport correspondent

This report doesn't say flight MH17 was knocked from the sky by a missile. But it pretty much rules out anything else. There were no emergencies on board, no mechanical problems, the pilots didn't make any mistakes.

Instead, it talks about the plane being punctured by "high-velocity objects", which is consistent with how the BUK missile system works (that's the system many suspect was responsible). They don't actually hit the target, they explode nearby and pepper it with shrapnel for maximum damage. But all of this doesn't answer the critical question. Who fired the missile?

Both sides in this conflict use the same weapon. To find out who made this terrible mistake, they need to determine where on the ground the missile was actually launched from. And one expert told me that they should eventually be able to work that out with a combination of radar data and evidence from the scene.

There is one very sobering fact also highlighted in this report. Three other, very large commercial airliners flew over the same area at around the same time.

First findings of MH17 crash report

Russians 'operated BUK' in MH17 area

Investigators say the cockpit voice recorder "gave no indication that there was anything abnormal" on board

The Dutch team analysed photographs of the wreckage that showed a number of pieces with multiple holes

They said the plane "broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-velocity objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside."

The cockpit voice recorder revealed no signs of any technical faults or an emergency situation, the experts said.

The investigators have not visited the crash site because of fighting in the area but they said photographic evidence of the wreckage suggests the plane split into pieces during "an in-flight break up".

Maintenance history showed the aircraft was airworthy and had no known technical problems when it took off from Amsterdam, the report added.

Experts said it was manned by "a qualified and experienced crew" and that engines were running normally at 293 knots at 33,000ft (cruise altitude).

Radio communications between the pilot and Ukrainian air traffic control confirm that no emergency call was made.

Final transmissions from MH17

At 13:08:00 MH17 contacts Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk International Airport (DNP):

MH17 to DNP: Dnipro Radar, Malaysian one seven, flight level 330

DNP to MH17: Malaysian one seven, Dnipro Radar, good day, radar contact

Flight MH17's last transmission was at 13:19:56 when it responded to a navigation request from DNP:

DNP to MH17: Malaysian one seven, due traffic proceed direct to point Romeo November Delta

MH17 to DNP: Romeo November Delta, Malaysian one seven

At 13:20:00, DNP sends MH17 another radar message but there is no response:

DNP to MH17: Malaysian one seven, how do you read me? Malaysian one seven, Dnipro Radar

DNP makes two more requests for contact from MH17 before Russia's Rostov airport (RST) calls in at 13:22:05.

RST to DNP: Listening [to] you, its Rostov

DNP to RST: Rostov, do you observe the Malaysian by... by the response?

RST to DNP: No, it seems that its target started falling apart.

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Criminal investigation

While it is not the final report into the crash, the findings are significant because they are the first official account of what happened, says the BBC's Anna Holligan in the Netherlands.

The report does not attribute blame or liability for the crash but a separate criminal investigation is being conducted by prosecutors in The Hague, she adds.Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak welcomed the report, saying it "leads to the strong suspicion that a surface-to-air missile brought MH17 down".

Meanwhile, the rebel leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, insisted the separatists did not have the capability to shoot down the plane.

"I can say one thing only: we simply do not have the kind of hardware that could have downed a commercial Boeing, including that Malaysian plane," he told the Russian Interfax news agency. Ukraine's government and several Western leaders say there is strong evidence that pro-Russian separatists shot down the plane with an anti-aircraft system known as Buk. Russia has consistently denied allegations that it had supplied any missiles or weapons to the rebels.

The Russian government denies delivering arms to the separatists

The search for evidence has been hampered by heavy fighting in the region, and Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai called on both sides to grant investigators full access.

"The crash site is a criminal investigation area and it is imperative that we protect the integrity of the crash site and allow the investigation to proceed," he said. More than 2,600 people have been killed and thousands more wounded since violence between rebels and Ukrainian government forces erupted in April.

Key findings of report

• Likely that damage resulted in loss of structural integrity of aircraft, leading to break-up in the air
• Forward parts of plane found near Petropavlivka closest to last flight data broadcast
• Cockpit window contained numerous small puncture holes suggesting small objects entered from above level of cockpit floor
• Damage to forward section indicates plane penetrated by large number of high-velocity objects from outside
• No evidence found of manipulation of flight and data recorders
• No indication of technical or operational issues with plane or crew