Malaysia today defended the flight path taken by the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, confirming that the plane's systems were functioning normally before it was shot down by a missile over Ukraine killing all 298 people on board.
Transport minister Liong Tiong Lai told a press conference here that the path was approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, and by the countries whose airspace the route passed through. He said the International Air Transportation Association had also stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was unrestricted. "15 out of 16 airlines in the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines fly this route over Ukraine. European airlines also use the same route, and traverse the same airspace. In the hours before the incident, a number of other passenger aircraft from different carriers used the same route,"he said.
Local media reports had quoted data from Flightradar24.Com that a Singapore Airlines and an Air India plane were 15 miles away at the time of the incident. The minister stressed that there were no last minute instructions given to the pilots of MH17 to change the route of the flight. He said Malaysia Airlines flights would not take the route anymore as it had been closed after yesterday's incident.
Liong said that no distress signal had been received from the pilots before the plane crashed. He said if it was confirmed that the plane was shot down "it would contravene international law, and be an outrage against human decency," adding that?those responsible should be swiftly brought to justice. The Ukrainian government will institute an investigation into the circumstances of the accident, and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation, the minister said.
Earlier today, Malaysia Airlines released a list of those on board the flight and their nationalities. The list included 41 passengers whose nationality could not be verified at the time, as they were in transit from previous flights, and had not entered passport control in Amsterdam.
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