Malaysian Airline Flight 17 and Forensics

This article is about the Malaysian Airline Flight 17 which was shot down over Ukraine about a year ago. Through forensic analysis it was concluded that the flight was deliberately brought down by “surface-to-air” missiles. A missile struck the front of the plane killing all three people in the cockpit instantly. The plane then crashed within 90 seconds and killed close to 300 people on board. Although the wreckage was dispersed over 50 kilometers, forensic detectives were able to find most of the remains and then reconstruct what happened to the aircraft. The weapons system was determined through fragments of wreckage and the crew member’s bodies. Through this forensic analysis, detectives were able to determine that the explosion was not due to weapons on board the aircraft. Forensic scientists were also able to recover cellphones on board which showed that there were no texts or videos taken during the flights fall to the ground, indicating that passengers were unaware of the attack.

At the time of the crash, conflict between Russia and Ukraine was increasing rapidly suggesting that perhaps there should have been more flight regulations for commercial aircrafts when traveling in this airspace. In addition, the harm of innocent civilians as the result of failing to identify whether or not the aircraft was linked to the military is now a concern to humanity. Forensic analysis was able to successfully trace the missile to its source, eliminating the anonymous nature of the strike. Also, forensic evidence was able to conclude that all passengers were unaware that the attack was going to happen due to the evidence found from the cellphones on board. This may bring some comfort to victims families that they had no idea of the events that happened.

This article was thorough in its forensic analysis and was able to clearly state and evaluate the events that occurred. It provided sufficient detail about the reconstruction of the scene and what evidence they were able to draw from doing so. However, it would have been good for more context to be provided regarding the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and why there have been such tense relations between the two nations. Overall, the article did an adequate job at stating the importance of the crash of Flight 17 and how forensics were used to determine what had occurred. 


http://www.forensicmag.com/news/2015/10/mh17-flight-shot-down-surface-air-missile-ukraine-say-investigators