Malaysia Airlines flight with 295 on board crashes in Ukraine

Malaysia Airlines Flight 017 Crashes in Ukraine, 295 People On Board

A Malaysia Airlines flight that departed Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday crashed near the Ukrainian-Russian border, with 280 passengers and 15 crew members on board.
Early reports from Interfax and the Associated Press quote an advisor to Ukraine’s interior minister as claiming the plane was shot down, but this has not been confirmed yet by secondary sources. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines confirmed that the plane lost contact with flight MH17 approximately 50 kilometers from the Russian border.
Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said his government will begin an “immediate investigation” into the crash, according to the AP.

Speaking Bloomberg TV, Ian Bremmer, the president of Eurasia Group, said that any missile attack on the commercial plane is “very likely to have been a mistake.”
According to Reuters, the plane was “found burning on the ground in eastern Ukraine.” A YouTube video purportedly showing smoke from the area where the flight crashed was posted online Thursday, as were photos of the wreckage.

Rumors that Ukrainian rebels attacked the plane began spreading on Twitter, and were reportedly immediately countered by Donetsk separatists. A Ukrainian security spokesperson accused Russia’s air force of downing the plane, but Russia’s defense ministry blasted that claim as “absurd.” Bloomberg TV cited a Facebook post from Ukraine’s interior minister accusing Ukrainian rebels of downing the plane.
“Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam,” the airline tweeted on Thursday. “The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.”

President Barack Obama, speaking in Delaware about infrastructure, addressed the incident:“It looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. Right now we are looking to determine if American citizens were on board—that is our first priority.” Obama also said he would offer any assistance necessary to “determine what happened and why.” Obama had earlier reportedly spoken with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that a military transport was taken down over eastern Ukraine.
The plane for Flight MA017 was a Boeing 777, the same aircraft used for the Malaysia Airlines flight 370, which disappeared on March 8. That earlier flight, which had 239 people on board, has yet to be recovered.