The Ukraine:

July 17th, 2014, Donetsk Region of The Ukraine:

Terror In The Sky

I have waited until as much information as can be assessed has become available before commenting on yet another tragic air disaster involving Malaysia airlines., this time all 298 persons on board perishing.
The first thing is to express sincere condolences for the all victims, their families and loved ones on the Malaysia-KLM flight 9M-MRD/MH17 from Schiphol Airport (The Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. Secondly, to express condolences to Malaysia Airlines in what has become their darkest year ever.

I have traveled on Malaysia Airlines (possibly on the same ill-fated flight path as that of 9M-MRD) en-route to the Far East and hardly gave one iota of a second to the announcement by the Captain or Co-Pilot about Ukrainian airspace other than it being a minor distraction to something I was either contemplating or reading on-board.

The other most disturbing fact, other than the tragic loss of life, is that it has been reported that the plane of Russian Federation President Putin with similar underbelly or side markings to the untrained eye, was in the same vicinity as that of the downed Malaysian airliner within a relatively short time prior to the disaster.

Indeed earlier today I was musing as to whether to mention the dangers to Air Force One or whether such an inclusion in an article would just be read as a cynical attempt by myself to 'hype up' an already tragic situation for personal reasons.
I agonized about it this afternoon and decided I would omit it when I blogged something about this tragic event (rather than stand accused of being 'over-dramatic' and attempting to 'capitalize' on a tragedy through a blog.) Hearing the news about the Presidential plane hit me like a bombshell and I have now changed my  mind and am including my original thoughts (as a side issue) to this terrible event in the Donetsk region of The Ukraine.
Earlier today, after hearing the tragic news of the Malaysian air disaster, I was immediately thinking of the 'prized' value to many terrorist and criminal organizations of 'bringing down' Air Force One.
One of the few airlines in the world to have sophisticated anti-surface-to-air missile technology is El Al Airlines-,the national civilian airline of Israel. However, such technology would be useless if a determined and triangulated coordinated  attack was to be launched against any civilian airline. Unless a squadron of fighter jets was escorting every civilian airliner, such technology is more for localized and unique deterrence than ability to fend off coordinated surface-to-air missile attacks. The technology is valid only up to a point.
I said at the time that the forced downing by the European Union of a plane carrying the President of Bolivia and it's diverting to a country within the borders of the EU was a terrible mistake and has set a very dangerous precedent for the future. Who am I, however, to understand Imperial Hubris? What individuals who are supposed to be intelligent consistently are seeming to lack is ability to both empathize and appreciate the ramifications of arbitrary actions when taken out of their own 'comfort zone' and placed in unfamiliar environments. The technology for all such systems has, until recently, remained outside the hands of potential terrorist groups and few have ever had the technical sophistication to impact bullseye. It should not be assumed however that this will always be the case. Neither should it be assumed that a third party, with such technology, would not, out of sympathy,'lend' (or sell)  it's services to either a criminal or terrorist group (for example, it could be a drugs cartel in Central or South America attempting 'payback' for loss or extradition of it's members to the United States.) There are enough countries in Latin America where such
a scenario is not entirely without foundation. Bringing down Air Force One with the President on-board would be a major 'trophy' for the drugs cartels, hard hit by the DEA in recent decades. Republicans in Congress are making this possible by their ignorance and lack of foresight .   By cost cutting on Federal security services surrounding Air Force One Republicans are assisting such potential terrorists and drug cartels and bringing forward the day when such a hypothetical scenario turns into a real tragedy. In the light of this airline tragedy in the Ukraine, after the political 'blame game' ends, the international airline community, if it has any common sense, should unite to brain storm about further safety measures for civilian airlines with the emphasis not just on (in my opinion, short-term) sophisticated on the ground air terminal security but near landing, take-off and in-flight (external) measured threats.  There are a number of relatively cheap measures which could be immediately taken to improve security in these 3 arenas. I do say 'relatively cheap' because, for example, fiber optic systems need not push operating costs to astronomical levels and will improve passenger safety as well as security. This must now be a priority for the civilian airline industry worldwide because a variation of what appears to have happened in the Ukraine today, could happen anywhere else tomorrow.

Addendum:
The Blame Game:
A number of theories are being advanced as to the cause of the MH-17 tragedy.
The most prevalent one is that it was shot down by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile.
One thing I noted about the distressing sight of the bodies  strewn about the wreckage of MH-17 was the fact that most shown showed remarkably little signs of injury. One would expect shrapnel, metallic or composite fragment impact from a bomb or explosion, to have grievously disfigured and torn apart most of the unfortunate souls on board the airliner - depending on the point of impact and or  location of a bomb or missile. This would suggest that if it was heat or radar seeking that it either impacted on the extreme rear of the plane, the front of the plane or on the hottest source - a wing.  This would account for a further impact of fragments hitting the main body, quickly depressurizing it and literally sucking the victims out through the depressurized torn sectors - hence bodies would still be intact and external death would have been caused in an instant by hypoxia and internal by impact with terrain. (The study of shockwave impact, of the type we are discussing ,on each sector of the human body, is still an area of active scientific investigation.)
To treat the Russia Federation as a pariah because of this tragedy would, in my opinion, be a very serious mistake with consequences which could trigger or at least move the world towards a new global military confrontation. I am really not sure whether today's media truly understand the global fire storm they are playing with as they 'cash in' on the blame game without giving the experts their opportunity  to scientifically examine all the facts so that those individuals responsible  (and I am talking about the individuals who 'pushed the button')  are brought to account by military justice in the natural course of events, should interdiction indeed be found to be the case, in this war zone.  Nobody for one second would ever suggest that President Obama be personally held responsible for atrocities or 'mistakes' by coalition forces in Iraq or Afghanistan which led to the accidental or conspired deaths or grievous injuries to civilians.  Neither is it sensible (or diplomatic) to accuse President Putin, the President of the world's second Superpower on this planet, of 'pulling the trigger' resulting in the deaths of all those 298 souls on board flight MH-17. and subsequently treat Russia as Libya, after Lockerbie.  To do so is itself likely to trigger a tsunami of titanic proportions, the consequences and aftermath shocks  which would be felt worldwide for decades, if not longer, as a new Iron Curtain or 'firewalled' global political and economic realignment of 'camps' , with all the implications of such an environment for North and South Poles resource cooperation and distribution, to the new El Dorados -including The Caspian Sea, emerge.
We are talking about a war zone  on the actual physical border of a world superpower. If we are not very careful, we could be literally sleepwalking ourselves into a third world war,of sorts, if not literal, through misperceptions and recklessness.   In this instance, history will call world leaders to all account for their actions - if there is somebody left to write our history.

Additional Information
July 21, 2014
Russian media have recently announced that there was one other fighter plane (unidentified) in the immediate vicinity at the time of the downing of MH17. My source (not from Russia) suggests that there were actually 2 fighter jets and that they have both been identified (by another country) as positively those of the Ukrainian Air Force. In addition to this that same source places the near vicinity of  the plane of the Russian Federation President at 20 minutes of a difference between the time of MH17 flight path and it's proximity near to this flight path at interdiction -  within striking range of surface-to-air missiles.
(This has not yet been announced, to the best of my knowledge, anywhere in the world.)
I must stress that I have had this information for some time but have delayed it's inclusion because I have not been able to corroborate, with a second source, this single source of such information. To date, I have no independent confirmation of this source but the recent announcement by Russia media sources lends more credibility - hence my decision to include this, as, of yet, unverified, information.
Even if there were 2 Ukrainian fighter jets within several kilometers, this in itself does not presume their involvement in the downing of MH 17. (3)

1 or 2 Ukrainian Air Force Planes In The immediate Vicinity of the Downed MH17 at the Time of The Incident?

It's beginning to look like there was only 1 fighter plane and I misinterpreted something which had been said to me.
The time of approximately 20 minutes and proximity (across the border) of the The Russian Federation President remains exactly as I heard it.  This does not suggest that President Putin was on board.  The Presidential plane could have been on it's way to or from routine maintenance or on a  flight check. Unfortunately with Malaysia Airlines this year there have sadly been far too many coincidences and this further matter (of a coincidence) would not in the least surprise me.

23rd July, 2014
Black Box Flight Recorders:

Now on their way to the United Kingdom.
Both will be analyzed in the United Kingdom.
This is probably the least controversial country where expert forensic analysis is second to none in the world.
There would have been just about some time for civilian radar on board the ill-fated Malaysia airline to pick up an object approaching.  It's identification time minus the time of impact will give at least some indication as to it's speed and (hopefully) trajectory.  With some modified calculations it's point of origin can be at least back-tracked to a specific ground location.  This together with 'chatter' extracts (in cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Defense and The Department of  Defense, The United States) should help to accurately pinpoint the type and nature of the originating talk and it's associations.

Why Was MH17 Shot Down?

A number of of speculations have been made about what shot down the ill-fated airliner.
It is now not beyond the realm of possibility that  it was indeed shot down by an Anti-Ukrainian Rebel surface-to-air missile. It is also not beyond the realm of speculation that they were trying to hit the Ukrainian fighter jet reportedly flying nearby - but missed - with the tragic results we have witnessed.
Whether there was a deliberate act of provocation on the part of the Ukrainian Air Force jet - with premeditated intent and knowledge that a civilian airliner was unable to manoeuver to avoid being hit, or whether it was just a terrible tragedy, a so-called identification friend or foe [IFF]  'mistake' it could take years if not decades for an official acknowledgement.
However, there is increasing belief (not evidence, at this point) that it was not an act of deliberate intent on the part of the Ukrainian rebels.


Patrick Emek

1. http://www.standartnews.com/english/read/spanish_air_traffic_controller_mh17_shot_down_by_kiev_after_escort_by_fighters-4446.html

2.
 http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/07/18/mh17-report-claiming-putins-plane-actual-target-pulled/

(3)
 http://www.businessinsider.com/russias-story-about-mh17-2014-7