Malaysia Airlines Flight Did Not Ignore Safety Warnings, Minister Says
Malaysia Airlines Flight Did Not Ignore Safety Warnings, Minister Says
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Malaysia Airlines crew closed the counter at Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1 on July 18, 2014 in Putrajaya, Malaysia.Rahman Roslan—Getty Images
At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday afternoon local time, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai denied that Malaysia Airlines had shirked security warnings and approved Flight 17’s taking of a shorter route from Amsterdam over conflict zones in Eastern Europe in order to save time and fuel.
“This was an approved route, and approved routes are safe routes,” he said, adding that 15 of 16 international air carriers from the Asia-Pacific region rely on the flight path over Ukraine, where the Kuala Lumpur–bound Boeing 777 was purportedly shot down by pro-Russian insurgents on Thursday evening.
In the aftermath of the disaster, however, Malaysia Airlines has rerouted its Europe-to-Malaysia flights over the Middle East and India, according to maps provided by FlightAware.com. A flight that departed for Kuala Lumpur from Paris’ Charles De Gaulle Airport shortly before news of the crash broke appears to have been quickly diverted southward while crossing Poland.
The pilots of the doomed airliner, however, had no foresight of the risks, Liow said. He insisted that “no last-minute instructions” had been given to Flight 17’s crew, and dispelled rumors that ground controllers had received a mayday call from the cockpit of Flight 17 prior to its crashing in a rural area of eastern Ukraine.
He also provided an updated passenger manifest; at press time, the identities of only 20 of the 298 passengers had yet to be accounted for. It was learned earlier in the day that the step-grandmother of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak may be among the deceased, and that a number of those onboard — maybe as many as a hundred, according to some reports — were AIDS researchers, health workers and activists en route to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia.
Over the course of a hectic press day, Malaysian officials skirted around the issue of culpability, choosing instead to address to emotional magnitude of the tragedy and exonerate state agencies and Malaysia Airlines from any potential wrongdoing. The governments of both the Ukraine and the U.S., however, insist that a Russian-made antiaircraft missile fired by pro-Russia separatists had felled the aircraft from the sky, though it remains unclear whether it was an errant mistake or a deliberate act of terrorism, as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has insisted.
Scenes from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
A woman cries during a religious service held by villagers in memory of the victims at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, July 22, 2014. Vadim Ghirda—APMembers of a Dutch forensics team prepare to inspect rail cars where the bodies of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash victims were being held in Torez, Ukraine, July 21, 2014. Mauricio Lima—The New York Times/ReduxThe bodies of victims of the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrive at the Torez train station in the back of a truck to be loaded into a refrigerated train car on July 21, 2014 in Torez, Ukraine. Brendan Hoffman—Getty ImagesLocal residents gather to watch as the bodies of victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 are removed from the scene of the crash on July 21, 2014 in Grabovo, Ukraine.Brendan Hoffman—Getty ImagesPersonnel from the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry load the bodies of victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 into a truck at the crash site on July 21, 2014 in Grabovo, Ukraine. Brendan Hoffman—Getty ImagesAn armed pro-Russian separatists gestures as he blocks the way to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Grabove, in the region of Donetsk on July 20, 2014.Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty ImagesPeople search a wheat field for remains in the area of the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, July 20, 2014.Vadim Ghirda—APEmergency workers carry a body at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 19, 2014. Maxim Zmeyev—ReutersA rose lies on a plastic sheet covering a victim of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane which was downed on Thursday near the village of Rozsypne, in the Donetsk region July 18, 2014. Maxim Zmeyev—ReutersMiners inspect a piece of debris found in a field from the Malaysia Airlines plane on July 18, 2014 in Grabovka, Ukraine. Brendan —Getty ImagesA group of miners prepare to search a field for debris and human remains from the Malaysia Airlines plane on July 18, 2014 in Grabovka, Ukraine.Brendan Hoffman—Getty ImagesA man looks at debris from the Malaysia Airlines plane crash on July 18, 2014 in Grabovka, Ukraine. Brendan Hoffman—Getty ImagesSelf-proclaimed Prime Minister of the pro-Russian separatist "Donetsk People's Republic" Alexander Borodai stands as he arrives on the site of the crash of a malaysian airliner carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine, on July 17, 2014.Dominique Faget—AFP/Getty ImagesPeople walk amongst the debris at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, July 17, 2014. Dmitry Lovetsky—APPeople walk amongst the debris at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, July 17, 2014.Dmitry Lovetsky—APThe site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash is seen near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. Maxim Zmeyev—ReutersAn Emergencies Ministry member works at putting out a fire at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014.Maxim Zmeyev—ReutersSmoke rises from where a Malaysia Airlines commercial plane crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. Andrei Kashtanov—APThe wreckage of the Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur after it crashed on July 17, 2014 near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine.Zuran Dzhavakhadze—AFP/Getty ImagesLuggage seen at the crash site the Malaysian airliner carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine, July 17, 2014 Dominique Faget—Getty ImagesA woman and child walk past the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, July 17, 2014. Dmitry Lovetsky—APThe wreckage of the Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur after it crashed, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine, July 17, 2014.Dominique Faget—AFP/Getty Images