The picture was heart rending; a Russian soldier examining a forlorn teddy bear that belonged to a child amongst the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down over Ukraine by pro-Russia rebels. It could very well have belonged to an Indian child. The 24/7 global flight tracking service Flightradar24 reported that an Air India passenger Boeing 787, (AI 113) was flying just about 25 kilometres away. History is full of narrow misses, which in hindsight highlight the dangers that continue to plague the world. The numbers tell the tale—192 Dutch, 29 Malaysians, 28 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three Vietnamese, three Filipinos and one person each from the US, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong comprised the 298 lives which were extinguished along with MH17.
The flight crew also included an Indian-origin steward, Sanjid Singh Sandhu. The roll call of nationalities on the passenger manifest of MH17, on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur is a bloody Excelsheet of how the entire world has been affected by civil wars and terror—not just on ground but also in air. Data from Aviation Safety Network suggest that at least 66 civilian aircraft were shot down by terrorists and rebels in the last two decades, killing over 1,416 air travellers in major acts of aviation violence, since the first such incident was recorded on February 21, 1973, when Israeli Air Force shot down Libyan Airlines Flight 114, which had strayed into Israeli air space. Meanwhile, the horrified world is watching a standoff between Russia, which backs the anti-Ukranian government rebels who shot down the plane and the Western alliance of the US, UK, Europe and Australia which is demanding a transparent investigation and absolute access to the crash site where “bloated bodies” are lying. Putin blames the West for the crash, because it supports the Ukrainian government. “This tragedy would not have happened if there was peace in the country, if military operations had not resumed in the south-east of Ukraine,” he said. India, meanwhile, is treading carefully with its long-term ally Russia. India has so far referred to the MH17 incident only through condolence letters by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Malaysian and Dutch counterparts. Netherlands had the largest number of nationals in the plane. In his letters, Modi hoped the circumstances which led to the crash are “established quickly”.
SHOOTING MADE EASY
What puzzled aviation experts is why MH17 chose to fly over Donetsk in the troubled region of eastern Ukraine, a route many airlines chose to avoid. Although, several nations including Australia, US and Taiwan have claimed they avoided Donetsk route about a month ago when Russian troops moved into Crimea, Indian officials said they altered the route only after rebels shot down MH17. In the post-9/11 days, the fear of SCUD attacks against civilian aircraft, notably American, plagued intelligence agencies. But a commercial airliner at cruising altitude cannot be shot down without advanced anti-air missile systems like man-portable air-defence systems, known as MANPADS which require a heat signal to track and destroy. The SA-17 Buk 2—which is suspected to have downed MH17 is known to NATO countries as the ‘‘Grizzly,’’ is deployed by both Russia and Ukraine.
DEATH ON THE RADAR
October, 1967: Cyprus Airways Flight 284. Explosion in the cabin. All 66 on board killed.
February, 1973: Libyan Arab Airlines 114 headed to Cairo from Tripoli shot down by Israeli Air Force fighters after it strayed off course. 108 killed.
October, 1976: Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 exploded after takeoff from Barbados. 73 killed.
September, 1978: Air Rhodesia Flight RH825 shot down by Zimbabwe People’s Revolution Army operatives. The aircraft crash landed killing 38 people while 10 survivors were executed by the ultras. Ten others were rescued.
April, 1978: Korean Air Lines Flight 902 attacked en route from Paris to Seoul. The aircraft made an emergency landing on a frozen lake. 107 survived, two died.
February, 1979: Air Rhodesia Flight RH827 en route from Kariba Airport, Zimbabwe to Salisbury shot down by a SAM-7 missile fired by Zimbabwe People’s Revolution Army guerrillas. All 59 passengers and crew members killed.
June, 1980: Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 was allegedly shot down by Nato fighters as it flew to Palermo in Italy. 88 passengers and crew members died.
September, 1983: Korean Airlines Flight 007 shot down near Sakhlin by two Soviet Sukhoi Su-15s after plane veered from intended course. The aircraft bound for Seoul from Anchorage crashed into the sea killing all 269 on board.
September 1983: Gulf Air Flight 771: Bomb exploded in baggage compartment. Most of the 112 dead were Pak nationals.
November 1987: Korean Air Flight 858 brought down by liquid explosives concealed by North Koreans who boarded the plane in Iraq.
July, 1988: Iran Air Flight 655 shot down by a US navy cruiser, killing all 290 on board.
December 1988: Pan Am Flight 103. Boeing 747 destroyed in flight by PETN explosives. 270 killed.
September 1989: UTA Flight 772 downed over Niger by a bomb, killing 156 passengers and 15 crew.
November 1989: Avianca Flight 203, flying from Bogota to Cali was bombed, killing 107 people plus a possible three on the ground.
September, 1993: Transair Georgian Airline’s three planes shot down by Abkhazi separatist forces, killing a total 137 people.
September, 1998: Lion Air flight LN 602 shot down by LTTE. 55 on board killed.
October, 2001: Tupolev 154M shot down by Ukraine. The flight with 78 on board crashed into the sea.
January, 2007: AN-26, carrying cargo and passengers for a Turkish construction company shot down by Islamic army in Iraq while landing at Balad Air Base. 35 dead.
The Jinxed airline
9M-MRD made its first flight on 17th July 1997. It crashed on July 17, 2014 when flying as MH17 exactly 17 years after first flight. MH17 is the fourth Malaysia Airlines aircraft to meet a disastrous end.
MAR 8, 2014: Malaysia Airlines MH370 goes missing between Kuala Lumpur and China, with all 239 feared dead. The aircraft has not been recovered yet
SEPT 15, 1995: Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133 crashes in Malaysia, reportedly due to pilot error, killing 34 people on board the aircraft
DEC 4, 1977: MH653 crashes in Malaysia, purportedly being diverted by hijackers to Singapore. First fatal air crash for the airline, with all 100 on board killed instantly