HANOI, VIETNAM—Two Boeing 777s. Two incredibly rare aviation disasters. And one airline. In what appears to be a mind-boggling coincidence, Malaysia is reeling from the second tragedy to hit its national airline in less than five months. On March 8, a Malaysia Airlines jetliner vanished about an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, spawning an international mystery that remains unsolved. On Thursday, the airline — and the nation — were pitched into another crisis after the same type of aircraft was reported shot down over Ukraine. The struggling airline and the nation must now prepare for another agonizing encounter with grief, recriminations, international scrutiny and serious legal and diplomatic implications. “This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said. Amid it all, a question: How could disaster strike the airline twice in such a short space of time? “Either one of these events has an unbelievably low probability,” said John Cox, president and CEO of Safety Operating Systems and a former airline pilot and accident investigator. “To have two in a just a few months of each other is certainly unprecedented.” The first disaster deeply scarred Malaysia and left the world dumbstruck. How could a Boeing 777-200ER, a modern jumbo jet, simply disappear? Flight 370 had veered off course during a flight to Beijing and is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean far off the western Australian coast. The search area has changed several times, but no sign of the aircraft, or the 239 people aboard, has been found. Until then, how the plane got there is likely to remain a mystery. On Thursday, there was no mystery over the whereabouts of the Boeing 777-200ER, which went down on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 280 passengers and 15 crew members. Its wreckage was found in Ukraine, and there were no survivors. Officials said the plane was shot down at an altitude of 10,000 metres. The region has seen severe fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists in recent days. “If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice,” Malaysia’s prime minister said. Malaysia Airlines was widely criticized for the way it handled the Flight 370 hunt and investigation. Some relatives of those on board accused the airline of engaging in a coverup, and there have been persistent conspiracy theories over the fate of the plane, including that it might have been shot down. There was no immediate reason to think the two disasters to befall the airline were in any way linked. Najib said the plane’s flight route had been declared safe by the global civil aviation body. And Cox said that to his knowledge, there was no prohibition against flying over eastern Ukraine despite the fighting on the ground. Charles Oman, a lecturer at the department of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said it was too early to draw conclusions. “Given the military conflict in the region, one has to be concerned that identities could have been mistaken,” he said in an email. Malaysia Airlines was especially criticized for the way it handled the communications around the missing jetliner, which presented unique challenges because of the uncertainty facing the relatives of those on board. With the plane crashing Thursday over land and its wreckage already located, there will be no such uncertainty. But the investigation will be just as sensitive. There will be legal and diplomatic implications depending on who was responsible. “The airline and the Malaysian transport ministry took a lot of hits for the way they handled MH370, due to their inexperience,” Oman said. “Hopefully they will do better this time.” The accident will surely inflict more financial damage on Malaysia Airlines. Even before the March disaster, it reported losses because of stiff competition from budget airlines. Afterward, passengers cancelled flights, and even though the airline is insured, it faces uncertainty over payouts to the victims’ families. Source ~ Here's some videos if you don't want to read [video=youtube;GWljVM_2viQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWljVM_2viQ&src_vid=XyuzFok_40k&[/video] [video=youtube;RyxIiW9m2mM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyxIiW9m2mM[/video]
Damn... This a twisted string of horrible luck for Malaysia....... Even worse for this poor lady who loses family on both MH370 and MH17.... http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/07/18/malaysia-air-disasters-2-relatives/12824005/
This time it was shot down and it's on land...But it's in pretty much a war zone. Not sure of the facts yet but it seem to be shot down by rebels/terrorists groups that is backed by Russia. It was shot most likely from a russian made missile. I still don't know why they would even fly jets anywhere near this area.
That's extremely unfortunate, and extremely this unlucky. Like the man who survived a fire and sinking of a ship just to later die in the Titanic. I agree. If there is a war zone going on in the skies, I don't understand why it was a route deemed safe.
Nothing new for Russia; they have a history of shooting down civilian aviation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 [video=youtube;9VA4W1wDMAk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VA4W1wDMAk[/video] Worth listening to. But they're not the only ones; even the US had shot down civilian airliners: http://www.vox.com/2014/7/17/5912699/7-times-militaries-have-shot-down-civilian-planes Seriously, what Obama needs to do is to air ban travel to and from Russia. For those that don't realize what this means? Cathay's New York to Hong Kong direct? Well, it overflies Siberia; right in the sights of Russian surface to air missiles.
Again, this shows how incompetent the Malaysian governemnt in flying aircrafts. Here, the givernment is the parent company of this doomed airline company. -devil
How does this show the Malaysian government as being incompetent in flying planes? The plane was reportedly shot down by the Russians with a missile. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/w...-missiles-brought-down-malaysia-jet.html?_r=0
We know about the conflict area in Ukraine and avoid it at all possible for safety reasons. They insist the flying path is safe and all other airline carriers are doing it. Why are they not handle this or any flying route a little more cautiously and initiate a safer/different path since they already had one unsolved disaster under their belt...:mad: and "Aviation safety authorities in America and Europe warned pilots in April about potential risks flying in or near Ukraine airspace."
that is 500+ people who's lives were lost just like that... people can't take a day of their life for granted cause you just never know..
First of all I would like to clarify that I am not backing Russia, Putin or Ukraine in anyway. But I would like to say that for me someone from the Netherlands and am hearing all the sad story everyday on the news and from friends that lose her uncle in the middle of these events that for now I do not believe in any but than really any news coming from USA. They say they have evidence but that is yet to be seen. Frankly I am quite disappointed how USA handling this whole situation to give not only The Netherlands but whole Europe the pressure to put more political pressure to Russia. That should not be the priority. The priority should be that all the friends and family are ensured that the bodies are returned and a proper burial will and can be provided. America in all this confusion only would want to see the Russia pays for their crimes although no concrete evidence have ever been seen by any Dutch media or me that is watching the news for the past couple of days over the whole world. The only thing I have heard from America and the post that are posted on this forum is the pointing fingers. As a Dutch citizen I for now would rather not read any of the news from America concerning this. Because the only thing I am hearing from America is their own political agenda. The pursuit of the crime will be chased when all the evidence are surfaced. What you guys read from the news is all yours to digest but I just had to leave my opinion here because I have seen the article posted here and the figure pointing posted over here. Just take it lightly and do not believe in everything till the evidence surfaced
I actually watch aljazeera news but I know what you mean, all the power players are trying to use this incident to put pressure on Russia and for their own gains. Still, Russia played a big part in this accident, they try to hide it and deflect blames but no one is buying it. First priority is to get the bodies back to their homes but currently, that area is still in those separatists hands. Until they can get a ceasefire and let people in. Unless other countries are willing to go in by force which is unlikely, it's a waiting game until they get rid of evidents that link Russia to it. It is upsetting that those bodies are just treated with no respect and let to rot.
Dutch man cheats death twice: Cyclist booked on flights MH370 and MH17, but changed plans at last minute
Once politicians start to open their mouths , the first casualty is the truth. The last thing that want is sensible pragamtic settlement without massive gain. Watching the western media channels and PR machinery , if you are a novice in institutionally biased and self censorship that's a classic. It is so blatantly obvious when the same channels report the crisis Gaza.
