Malaysia Airlines Tragedy Again: MH17 Boeig 777-200 shot down

Malaysian Airlines Jet shot down

An Air Malaysia Boeing 777-200 has been shot down by Cossacks of the Donyetsk separatist movement:

United States Vice President Joe Biden confirmed the plane was hit by missile, killing 295 people from several countries, including 27 from Australia.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said at least one New Zealand passport holder was aboard flight MH17.  "Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade are following up on indications that at least one New Zealand passport holder, and other passengers with New Zealand connections, may have been on board," McCully said. "The Ministry is working hard to confirm these details and make contact with the next of kin."

Malaysia Airlines confirmed in a press release it had received notification from Ukrainian air traffic control that it had lost contact with flight MH17 at GMT 2.15pm (NZT 2.15am) at 30km from Tamak waypoint, approximately 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border.

Flight MH17 operated on a Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam Thursday at 12.15pm (NZT 10.15pm) and was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport Friday at 6.10am Malaysia time (NZT 10.10am).

Malaysian 777-200 at Naruto, Tokyo

It has emerged that a surface-to-air missile was detected by US intelligence agencies, but the Wall Street Journal reported officals were divided over whether it came from Russia or eastern Ukraine. Biden confirmed the missile attack while he was at a conference in Detroit and Malaysian officials have reported the plane made no distress call. The UN Security Council would today hold an emergency meeting to discuss Ukraine.

The news of confirmation came a short time after Ukraine's state security chief accused Russian military officers of being involved in shooting down Malaysia Airlines MH17, which happened about 3am (NZT).

The disaster comes only four months after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished on March 8 when flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard.

Ukraine media have now reported the content of a phone call between members of militant groups, intercepted by Ukraine's security agency. (Transcript below)

The phone call was made 20 minutes after the plane crash, the Kyiv Post reported, by Igor Bezler, military commander of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic. He was said to be reporting to a Russian army colonel in their intelligence department. In a transcript of the conversation Bezler said: "We have just shot down a plane." Russian-backed Cossack militants have allegedly claimed responsibility for shooting down Malaysia Airlines MH17.

Ukraine media have reported the content of a phone call between members of militant groups, intercepted by Ukraine's security agency. The call was made 20 minutes after the plane crash by Igor Bezler, military commander of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic, the Kyiv Post reported. He was said to be reporting to a Russian army colonel in their intelligence department.

In a transcript of the conversation Bezler said: "We have just shot down a plane". In another conversation between two militants identified as "Major" and "Greek", they were heard discussing what they found at the crash site, discovering it was a civilian aircraft:

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Igor Bezler: We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo.

Vasili Geranin: Pilots. Where are the pilots?

IB: Gone to search for and photograph the plane. Its smoking.

VG: How many minutes ago?

IB: About 30 minutes ago.

SBU (Ukraine Intelligence) comment: After examining the site of the plane the terrorists come to the conclusion that they have shot down a civilian plane. The next part of the conversation took place about 40 minutes later.

Major: These are Chernukhin folks show down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino.

Greek: Yes, Major.

Major: The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. The first "200" (code word for dead person). We have found the first "200". A Civilian.

Greek: Well, what do you have there?

Major: In short, it was 100 percent a passenger (civilian) aircraft.

Greek: Are many people there?

Major: Holy sh**t! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes).

Greek: What kind of aircraft?

Major: I haven't ascertained this. I haven't been to the main site. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies.

Greek: Is there anything left of the weapon?

Major: Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.

Greek: Are there documents?

Major: Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson. 

- via Sydney Morning Herald/Kyiv Post

1:52: About that plane shot down near Snezhnovo Torez. It turned out to be a passenger plane. Fell near Grabovo, there's lots of bodies, women and children. Right now the cossacks are inspecting it.
2:03: On TV they are saying AN-26, Ukrainian transport, but are saying it's labeled Malaysian Airlines.
2:12: What was it doing in Ukrainian territory?
2:16: Maybe it was transporting spies. Who knows. It's war.

Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) over the eastern Ukraine when it crashed. He also said it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher, which could fire missiles up to an altitude of 22,000 metres (72,000 feet).

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said Air New Zealand did not operate over Eastern Europe.
Dutch authorities said that, along with the 27 Australians, there were also 143 Dutch on board.
Other passengers included 20 Malaysians, 11 Indonesians, six from the UK, four each from France and Germany and one from Canada. Some of the passengers were on their way to New Zealand, Dutch media reported.

MH17 was also a very popular route with oil and gas workers coming to South East Asia from the UK.
Ukrainian armed forces were not involved in the plane being brought down, the Ukrainian presidential press service said. Interfax quoted it as saying that President Petro Poroshenko had described the incident an act of "terrorism".
"We stress that the armed forces of Ukraine did not carry out any action to destroy targets in the air."

Pro-Russian separatists have said they were willing to have up to three days of ceasefire in eastern Ukraine to allow for recovery work at the site of the downed airliner, RIA news agency reported. However, the head of Ukrainian Emergency Situations said search efforts at scene were being hampered by "armed terrorists".

BODIES SCATTERED

An emergency services rescue worker confirmed 100 bodies had so far been found at the scene, near the village of Grabovo, and that debris from the wreckage was spread across an area up to about 15km in diameter.

''I was working in the field on my tractor when I heard the sound of a plane and then a bang and shots. Then I saw the plane hit the ground and break in two. There was thick black smoke,'' said a witness, who gave his name only as Vladimir.

A separatist rebel from nearby Krasnyi Luch who gave his name only as Sergei said: ''From my balcony I saw a plane begin to descend from a great height and then heard two explosions.''

Ukraine's Espreso TV reported that pro-Russian militants had recently received anti-aircraft weapons capable of shooting down planes at high altitudes.

The 'Buk' anti-aircraft missile system, manufactured in Russia, can hit aircraft up to an altitude of 25km. A launcher similar to the Buk missile system was seen by Associated Press journalists near the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhne, which is held by pro-Russia rebels yesterday.

BUK, also known as SAM-17 Grizzly, or SAM-11 Gadfly is a mobile anti-aircraft system mounted usually on a tracked vehicle or truck that can simultaneously track and strike up to six targets flying from different directions and at different altitudes..

BUK/SA-11 (Gadfly) Missle system

On June 29, the Itar-Tass news agency reported that Donetsk People's Republic separatists had taken control of a missile defence unit equipped with Buk missile systems. (Clicky to Aus Airpower info)

However a spokesman for the Donetsk rebels denied any involvement. "The plane was shot down by the Ukrainian side," the spokesman told Interfax. "We simply do not have such air defence systems."

He said the plane was well beyond the range of any of their weapons, which can only go as high as 3000m. He also expressed his condolences to the bereaved families.

However the capture of such weapons was reported on a Russian News site: Donetsk militia captured military defense part A-1402. Point defense is a division of Missile Forces and equipped with self-propelled anti-aircraft missile systems "Buk". This is the second division of the Air Force, which passed under the control of militias in recent days. One part surrendered voluntarily, for the second conducted many hours of fighting, RIA "Novosti".

The Wall Street Journal reported an earlier missle strike (above) on a Ukrainian Transport:

MOSCOW—Pro-Russian separatists shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane early Saturday, killing all 49 people on board, in the deadliest episode of months of unrest in eastern Ukraine.

The Il-76 plane was downed near the government-controlled airport in Luhansk, a region largely in the grasp of the separatists, after coming under fire from heavy machine guns and shoulder-launched missiles, said Ukraine's Defense Ministry.

The Ukrainian prosecutor general's office said the 40 military personnel and the nine crew members on board were all killed.

The incident, the second such shooting down of a plane this month, demonstrates how far the nascent government in Kiev is from its target of restoring security in the regions bordering Russia. Luhansk has been the center of significant unrest in recent months, and a month ago separatists declared independence in the region, as well as in Donetsk.

It came less than a day after the U.S. said it had confirmed the rebels had acquired tank and missile launchers from Russia and as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization released images it said supported allegations that Russian tanks had entered Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently denied charges that the country has provided weapons and troops to the rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk.

In the wake of the attack, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on the European Union to immediately introduce sectoral sanctions against Russia.

More info: According to an online flight tracking site, the plane's last known position was near Donetsk at an altitude of just over 10 km. A Dutch man, Cor Pan,  is feared missing by his Facebook friends, after posting a joke as he boarded a plane in Amsterdam saying "if the plane disappears, this is what it looks like". Cor also posted a photo of what is believed to be the Malaysia Airlines plane later reportedly shot down over Ukraine.

Friends initially laughed along with the reference to missing Malaysia flight MH370, wishing him and his partner happy holidays. However their comments later turned to shock and disbelief. One wrote "rest in peace dear Cor and (his partner) Neeltje, and we wish strength to your family - what a nightmare this is."
Fairfax could not independently verify whether the post was genuine. According to his Facebook page, Cor Pan was self-employed and lived in Volendam in the Netherlands.

Internet sleuths claim to have some photos of the offending SA-11:
Photos of Donetsk Missile Unit (Unproven); including a picture of a BUK Missle system leaving the area.

The prime suspect goes by the name Strelkov - or "shooter". Real name Igor Girkin, the former Russian intelligence officer has shot his own troops for insubordination. He may have just shot down a passenger plane with 298 people on board, or ordered it.

"We did warn you - do not fly in our sky," he reportedly posted to a Russian social media page just hours ago. This chilling message was most probably aimed at the Ukraine government, Girkin's target in a vicious separatist war.

But that post has now been deleted as it has become clear the jet was from Malaysia Airlines, not a military transport aircraft of the type Girkin has brought down in recent weeks.

The so-called "defence minister" of the Donetsk People's Republic first announced: "We just downed an An-26 near (the town of) Torez, and here is a video confirming that a 'bird fell'," said the post.

The video shows locals referring to the same coal mine in the region mentioned by Strelkov.

Russia's state media avoided any mention of the controversial posts and instead reported militia leaders' later claims that the Ukrainian air force had shot down the Boeing 777 instead.

Confirmation of separatist fighters killing the 298 people on board the plane from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur would further complicate Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to paint their uprising as a fight for self-determination.

The comments attributed to Girkin did not identify what missile was used to down the craft. But a message on the official Twitter account of the Donetsk People's Republic had announced hours earlier that insurgents had seized a series of Russian-made Buk systems capable of soaring to that height.

"dnrpress: self-propelled Buk surface-to-air missile systems have been seized by the DNR from (Ukrainian) surface-to-air missile regiment A1402," said the post. (link above) That tweet was later deleted as well.

No amateur can bring down a passenger jet streaking across the sky. A trained operator is needed to work the sophisticated surface-to-air missiles needed. Don't be lulled into believing any trooper with a rocket propelled grenade launcher on his shoulder could carry out this attack. The professionalism required alone makes Girkin and his Russian-backed separatists as the most likely suspects.

They have captured missile batteries mounted on trucks, and are suspected to have been supplied Russian-made "needle" portable launchers that can be carried by a man.

But it was far from clear whether Moscow condoned this atrocity.

The conflict in Ukraine has boiled for months since Russian commandos in Februrary seized control of the Crimean peninsula.

Junkers JU 87 Stuka Survivors and replicas (Stuka Part 1)

Airworthy Junkers JU 87 Stuka - 1940s Terror of the Skies

Survivors and Replicas

Steve Scheckter recently placed a photo of a replica/model Ju87 on Facebook, apparently flying over European  countryside. I guessed it was a Photoshop picture, as I'm reasonably sure there are no airworthy Ju 87 in the world. Well, then again, that was also said of the Mosquito, so I did a bit of research on the history and current facts, and came up with this:

History (Wiki) :

The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, "dive bomber") was a two-man (pilot and rear gunner) German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, the Stuka first flew in 1935 and made its combat debut in 1936 as part of the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War.

The aircraft was easily recognisable by its inverted gull wings and fixed spatted undercarriage, upon the leading edges of its faired main gear legs were mounted the Jericho-Trompete ("Jericho Trumpet") wailing sirens, becoming the propaganda symbol of German air power and the blitzkrieg victories of 1939–1942. The Stuka's design included several innovative features, including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to ensure that the aircraft recovered from its attack dive even if the pilot blacked out from the high acceleration.

Although sturdy, accurate, and very effective against ground targets, the Ju 87, like many other dive bombers of the war, was vulnerable to modern fighter aircraft. Its flaws became apparent during the Battle of Britain; poor manoeuvrability and a lack of both speed and defensive armament meant that the Stuka required heavy fighter escort to operate effectively.

The Stuka operated with further success after the Battle of Britain, and its potency as a precision ground-attack aircraft became valuable to German forces in the Balkans Campaign, the African and Mediterranean theaters and the early stages of the Eastern Front campaigns where Soviet fighter resistance was disorganised and in short supply.

Once the Luftwaffe lost air superiority on all fronts, the Ju 87 once again became an easy target for enemy fighter aircraft. In spite of this, because there was no better replacement, the type continued to be produced until 1944. By the end of the conflict, the Stuka had been largely replaced by ground-attack versions of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, but was still in use until the last days of the war. An estimated 6,500 Ju 87s of all versions were built between 1936 and August 1944.

Some notable airmen flew the Ju 87. Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most successful Stuka ace and the most highly decorated German serviceman of the Second World War. The vast majority of German ground attack aces flew this aircraft at some point in their careers.

See a separate post on the history: Ju 87 Stuka History Part 2

Survivors

Two intact Ju 87s survive:

Ju 87 R-2/Trop. Werk Nr. 5954

This aircraft is displayed in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. It was abandoned in North Africa and found by British forces in 1941. The Ju 87 was donated by the British government and sent to the USA during the war. It was fully restored in 1974 by the EAA of Wisconsin.

Ju 87 G-2, Werk Nr. 494083

A later, ground-attack variant, this is displayed at the Royal Air Force Museum in London; it was captured by British troops in Germany in 1945. It is thought to have been built in 1943–1944 as a D-5 before being rebuilt as a G-2 variant, possibly by fitting G-2 outer wings to a D-5 air frame. After the war, it was one of 12 captured German aircraft selected by the British for museum preservation.

 In 1967, permission was given to use the aircraft in the film Battle of Britain and it was repainted and modified to resemble a 1940 variant of the Ju 87. The engine was found to be in excellent condition and there was little difficulty in starting it, but returning the aircraft to airworthiness was considered too costly (and risky)  for the filmmakers, and ultimately, models were used in the film to represent Stukas. (see below)

 In 1998, the film modifications were removed, and the aircraft returned to the original G-2 configuration.

Junkers Ju 87 R-2 Werk Nr. 0875709 is owned by Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection (FHC) and is believed to be under a long-term restoration to fly. It served bearing the Stammkennzeichen of LI+KU with 1./St.G.5, and was recovered to the United Kingdom in 1998 before being sold to the FHC. It is likely to be the best candidate for an airworthy restoration.

Other aircraft survive as wreckage, recovered from crash sites.

1. The Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin has the wreckage of two complete aircraft that were recovered from separate crash sites near Murmansk in 1990 and 1994.

These wrecks were purchased from New Zealand collector Tim Wallis, who originally planned for the remains to be restored to airworthy, in 1996.

The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum displays the remains of an aircraft that crashed near Saint-Tropez in 1944 and was raised from the seabed in 1989.

2. In October 2006, a Ju 87 D-3/Trop. was recovered underwater, near Rhodes, Greece:

Markings still visible after almost 70 years under water

S7+GM

More on the history of this aircraft: 

According to a combination of available historical data, it appears that the aircraft is most probably S7+GM (100375), crewed by Lt. Rolf Metzger & Uffz. Hans Sopnemann - both MIA), which was shot down on 9 October 1943.

The Hellenic Air Force web-site tells us this about this aircraft:

"On that very day the II/St.G. 3 lost a total of nine Ju 87D-3/Trop when they were intercepted during their mission against Royal Navy and Hellenic Navy ships in the Aegean. Of these nine, seven crashed into the sea and two made emergency landings on Rodos. A week before, German troops had landed on the island of Kos, which fell the next day. On 9 October 1943, HMS cruiser "Carlisle" and other destroyers, returning from a sweep west of Kos, were dive-bombed SW of Rodos Island by a formation of Ju-87 Stukas. "Carlisle" was seriously damaged and HMS destroyer "Panther" was sunk. Most of her crew were saved by the RHN destroyer "Miaoulis", which has also claimed firing against the Ju-87 formation and probably hit a couple of them."

3.  Junkers Ju 87 B-2 9801 (serial number: 0406) is under reconstruction at Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum.

5. The fuseage of a Junkers Ju 88 was raised 6 miles off the coast of the German Island of Rügen in June 2012, the team of German Army researchers having thought it to be a Stuka. The two Junkers planes shared several parts, including the engines, and from the way it sat in the seabed it reportedly appeared to have been a Ju 87.

British Flying Replicas

 During the filming of 'The Battle of Britain' in 1968, serious thought was given to using the Hendon Stuka for the Ventnor radar bombing scenes. At the time the Stuka was part of the Air Historic Branch's collection of German aircraft, and it was decided by them that the Ju 87 was too valuble to risk (It was unique at that point).

The cost of getting the aircraft airworthy would have been prohibitive, but they did get the engine running, and this was recorded for use on the films soundtrack. Next they bought 4 Percival Procters for conversion to 'lookalikes'. The work was carried out by Viv Bellamy and entailed a major redesign of the cockpit glazing, new rectangular tail plane, rear fuselage cut down and new centre section built to pass for the distinctive Stuka cranked wing. 

The conversion was pretty convincing but, when flight tested by Bellamy, they did not fly well and were not used for filming. Their places were taken by large-scale radio controlled models which bombed the Ventnor film set constructed at The Mound near Dover.

New Zealand Static replica:

The full-size replica Stuka built by Lester Hope and his team of dedicated volunteers for Classic Fighters, was moved to its new location outside the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centrey. Here it joins its contemporary adversary, the replica Hawker Hurricane. 

Frankfurt Airport Static Replica:

Ukranian scaled down  flying replica, one of many in the world.

Link to more info on survivors

NATO deploys more fighter jets to Balkans

NATO deploys fighters to Balkan states

US F16s

NATO is performing  reconnaissance flights and patrols  over Poland and Romania to monitor the situation in neighboring Ukraine where Russian forces have taken control of Crimea.

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AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) flights have been taking place since early March, nad now US jets join those of Italy patrolling the borders of NATO territory.

Ukraine is not a NATO member but Russia's intervention in Crimea has alarmed neighboring countries, including alliance members that used to be dominated by the Soviet Union.

The announcement comes as the United States is sending a dozen F-16 fighter jets and 300 service personnel to Poland as part of a training exercise. 

The US and Russia are bitterly divided over how to ease the crisis, with each challenging the other to show they are really interested in a peaceful outcome. Russia denounced alleged lawlessness by far-right activists in eastern Ukraine on Monday, in a statement likely to trigger fear in Ukraine over possible Russian intervention.

12 Italian  F-16 fighter jets were  deployed to Poland as the crisis in Ukraine continues to escalate, coming from the 31st Fighter Wing in Aviano, officials said Thursday.

Italian F-16

The Polish Defense Ministry announced the deployment Monday, but U.S. officials remained vague on which Air Force unit the contingent would come from.

The Aviano-based aircraft and 150 pilots and support personnel will spend an “indefinite” amount of time training with their Polish counterparts, according to 2nd Lt. Allie Delury, a public affairs officer with the wing.

The deployment comes at a time when tensions in eastern Europe are running high following the Russian military takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region. Last week, the U.S. sent six F-15C Eagles and more than 60 U.S. airmen from Britain to Lithuania to bolster NATO’s air policing mission over the Baltics. America’s NATO allies, which were under Russian domination during the Soviet era, requested the deployments, officials said.

US F-15 Eagle

Delury said the mission of the F-16 Fighting Falcons in Poland was "strictly focused on training".

“This is something we do every year,” she said. But she acknowledged that U.S. forces had n’t been scheduled to take part in the training at this time, but were responding to an altered timeline suggested by their Polish allies. There is no time frame on how long the training might take place, Delury said.