{UAH} FLIGHT MH17 WAS NOT FLYING ALONE IN THE WAR ZONE

Air India flight was 90 seconds away when missile struck Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

The author has posted comments on this articleManju V, TNN | Jul 20, 2014, 01.40AM IST

A pro-Russian rebel checking the debris of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine before international inspectors visited the site. (Reuters photo)

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MUMBAI: The ministry of civil aviation's claim that there was no Air India flight near the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 when it was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday appears misleading.

An Air India Dreamliner flight going from Delhi to Birmingham was in fact less than 25km away from the Malaysian aircraft, a distance covered by a Dreamliner or Boeing 777 in about 90 seconds, when the latter was hit. Because of this closeness, the Dnipropetrovsk (local Ukrainian) air traffic controller asked the AI pilots to try and establish contact with pilots of the Malaysian aircraft who had stopped responding to its calls.

Minutes before the crash caused by a missile strike, the AI pilots had also heard the controller give the Malaysian aircraft MH17 what is called "a direct routing". This permits an aircraft to fly straight, instead of tracking the regular route which is generally a zig-zag track that goes from one ground-based navigation aid or way point to another. "Direct routing saves fuel and time and is preferred by pilots. In this case, it proved fatal," said an airline source.

 

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