A Malaysian Airlines aircraft was shot down over war zone of Ukraine on July 17. This flight was planned on an internationally approved route. These routes are established and approved by ICAO for the signatory states to use with full guarantee of safety. And all these are done under the purview of Geneva Convention and the United Nation.
If war zone were a factor, then possibly ICAO (International Civil Aviation Authority) would have served notices to airmen to forewarn them about the danger of flying over the region. Nothing like that came from ICAO.
The Malaysian airplane never drifted from its path. In most of Europe airplanes are always under radar contact and surveillance. Any deviation azimuth- and altitude-wise is immediately notified to the crew. Nothing like that was done by any controller.
In war zones, guns, cannons and missiles/rockets are fired at targets on the ground. Also there are air attacks by jets/aircraft at low levels and the guns used are not of very long range. So the question is: why aim for a commercial airliner and what purpose will it serve and for whom? And that too with highly sophisticated missiles? Again, is it possible that some aircraft was used to shoot the airliner down?
The flight was on a recognised and approved route and at a height of 10,000 metres which is over 33,000 feet. No ordinary soldier can shoot a plane down from that distance as many factors are involved like the cross wind factor, drift, speed of the aircraft, turbulence etc. The trajectory of the missile is to be considered as well. Besides, hand-carried missiles can at best go up to approximately 11500 feet elevation. The ill-fated Malaysian flight was flying at 33,000 feet. Use your imagination as to who really brought it down.
Missiles are very sophisticated and highly destructive armaments. MANPADS hand-carried missiles are limited by altitude 11500 metres. There is another kind of sophisticated missile, called BUK, which can go up to 55000 metres and are 18 metres long. These missiles are normally installed at a fixed place to contain or scare away jets attacking from high altitude (which is seldom done as the bomb loses its affectivity). These are not carried from place to place like a catapult and shoot at whims. They may be moved on the back of an armoured vehicle.
How missile works:
a) Plain and simple, it flies from the launcher and follows a trajectory, hits the target if the accuracy is obtained.
b) Some of the more sophisticated ones lock themselves with the target by sensing the heat wave emitted by the engines (Jets).
c) There are photo sensors on the missiles to detect any object and blast off in the near vicinity of the target. There is a range for it.
As a pilot, I believe that no ground-to-air missile shot the Malaysian plane down. It was not also an accident. Dirty international politics is to blame.
Russians employing mean tactics and killing innocent people is unheard-of. But USA has a reputation of being a master of it. All the flowery words like ethics, discipline, sacrifice, humanity, respect, morality, conventions etc. do not have any meaning to the powerful.
Capt. S.M.Nasimul Haque (Retd) is a former President of the Bangladesh Airline Pilots' Association.
Who shot down the Malaysian plane?
S.M.Nasimul Haque | Published: July 25, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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