
Passengers on flight MH17 may have been conscious for up to a minute and a half as the jet plunged to Earth after being hit by a missile, an official report found.

Dutch investigators said the Russian-made BUK rocket exploded just inches from the cockpit, killing the pilots and breaking off the front of the plane.

The missile's impact was instantly fatal only to the three crew members in the flight deck of Malaysia Airlines jet, the Dutch Safety Board report said.

Other crew and the passengers would have died due to decompression, reduced oxygen levels, extreme cold, powerful airflow and flying objects.

But painting a horrifying scenario, the report said 'it cannot be ruled out that some occupants remained conscious' during the 60 to 90 seconds before the plane crashed.

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Doomed: Dutch air crash investigators released a video demonstrating how a Russian-made BUK missile detonated just inches from the MH17 cockpit, killing the pilots and breaking off the front of the plane

Destroyed: The warhead exploded to the left of the cockpit, causing it to break off as it was showered with fragments of metal and the Boeing 777 broke up in mid-air, the Dutch Safety Board found

Blasted: The official Dutch Safety Board report says a missile exploded less than 3ft outside the cockpit

The 15-month Dutch-led inquiry said the plane was hit by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile fired from rebel-held territory in Ukraine

This appeared to contradict earlier information given to relatives who were told at a briefing in The Hague that their loved ones would have died very soon after the missile exploded.

The 15-month Dutch-led inquiry said the plane was hit by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile fired from rebel-held territory over eastern Ukraine.

A total of 298 people, including 10 Britons, were killed when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was downed over territory where pro-Moscow separatists operated on July 17 last year.

The report by the Dutch Safety Board gives a horrifying glimpse into what the victims faced before they all died.

It says the missile fragments struck the plane at speeds of 2,800-5,600mph, 'tearing off the cockpit' and sending a 'pressure wave' throughout the plane a few milliseconds later.

The missile explosion also caused a 'deafening sound wave' and the airplane's sudden deceleration, then speeding up as it fell to Earth, may have 'caused dizziness, nausea and loss of consciousness.'

The board said it is likely people 'were barely able to comprehend the situation in which they found themselves... no indications were found that point to any conscious actions' such as text messages sent on mobile phones.

Some MH-17 victims were found without clothes on the ground. The report said the 'powerful airflow' ripped them from their bodies.

One passenger was found wearing an oxygen mask, but it was 'unclear how the mask got there,' the board said.

After the report's release, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has called on Russia to fully co-operate with the criminal investigation into the crash.

Commenting for the first time on the Dutch Safety Board's final report, Mr Rutte said that a key priority 'is now tracking down and prosecuting the perpetrators'.

He said the DSB report 'is a new element and undoubtedly an important building block' in the international criminal investigation that is being led by Dutch prosecutors and detectives.

Dutch prosecutors leading the criminal investigation later said they had identified 'persons of interest', but did not identify them.

Crumpled: The reconstructed wreckage of MH17 is seen at the presentation of the final report into the crash

The Dutch Safety Board said the missile's impact was instantly fatal only to the three crew members in the cockpit of Malaysia Airlines jet

Malaysia also vowed to seek prosecution against the 'trigger-happy criminals' who fired the missile.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said: 'As part of the (Joint Investigation Team), Malaysia remains single-minded in our pursuit of decisive action.'

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, meanwhile, blamed Russia's security service.

'I personally have no doubt that this was a planned operation of the Russian special services aimed at downing a civilian aircraft,' Yatsenyuk told a cabinet meeting.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov responded to the report by saying there had been 'an obvious attempt to draw a biased conclusion and carry out political orders', according to Russian news agencies.

The makers of the BUK said their tests had shown the aircraft could not have been hit by a missile fired from rebel-controlled territory.

The White House said the report was 'an important milestone' in the effort to hold those responsible accountable.

National Security Council spokesman Ned Price says the assessment of the White House remains unchanged: 'MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired from separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine.'

Dutch officials released the findings of their long-awaited investigation in front of a ghostly reconstruction of the forward section of the Boeing 777.

Some of the nose, cockpit and business class of the jet were rebuilt from fragments of the aircraft recovered from the crash scene and flown to Gilze-Rijen air base in the Netherlands.

Chairman of the Dutch Safety Board, Tjibbe Joustra, said: 'Flight MH17 crashed as a result of the detonation of a warhead outside the airplane against the left-hand side of the cockpit...

'This warhead fits the kind of missile that is installed in the BUK surface-to-air missile system.'

The aircraft broke up in the air and crashed over a large area controlled by rebel separatists who had been fighting government troops there since April 2014.

Ghostly: A reconstruction of flight MH17 serves as a backdrop as Dutch investigators release their final report into the crash, saying it was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile from rebel-held Ukraine

Piecing it together: Some of the nose, cockpit and business class of the Boeing 777 were rebuilt using fragments from the jet recovered from the crash scene and flown to Gilze-Rijen air base in the Netherlands

SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE THAT CAN DESTROY TARGETS 15 MILES HIGH The BUK missile system blamed for shooting down flight MH17 is an anti-aircraft weapon whose origins date back to the Soviet era. The system is designed to be a mobile surface-to-air system able to engage multiple targets at a variety of ranges. BUK – which means 'Beech' in Russian – first fully entered service with the Red Army in 1980, and has been exported to many countries, including North Korea and Syria. NATO's official designation for it is the SA-11 Gadfly. The system fires a single-stage 700kg missile whose warhead explodes in close proximity to the target, shredding it with high-velocity shrapnel. Up to six BUK missiles can be fired simultaneously from a launch vehicle - usually either a military truck or a tank - on targets flying on different bearings, according to the London-based Jane's defence and intelligence group. The missiles lock onto targets using a separate radar system that is usually operated from an accompanying mobile unit. The system can operate in any weather and reportedly hit some targets at an altitude of 25 kilometres (15 miles) or more. Advertisement

An animation showed the route the doomed plane took, how it changed course to avoid a thunderstorm, then demonstrated how the front section sheared away after impact.

The tail probably fell to the ground first, with the central section flipping over and catching fire on impact.

The inquiry team indicated the missile was fired from a 320km square area. Russian experts said it was a smaller area and Ukrainians indicated a smaller area still.

The DSB did not set out to find who fired the missile. That will be dealt with by prosecutors later.

The board also said the plane should never have been flying there as Ukraine should have closed its airspace to civil aviation, adding that nobody gave a thought to the dangers to passenger planes.

After the findings were released, Prime Minister David Cameron, said: 'We have always been clear that justice must be done for all of the victims of MH17 and today's report brings us one step closer to establishing the truth.

'We, alongside our partners, will continue to send a clear message; those responsible for downing this plane will be held to account.'

Relatives earlier emerged visibly shaken after being privately briefed by Joustra in an conference centre in The Hague about the fate of the Boeing 777 which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down on July 17 last year.

Relative Robby Oehlers said a wave of sadness had swept through the room.

'They showed us the fragments that were inside the plane,' Oehlers said, adding that the room was 'so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.'

He said relatives had been told 'there was a zero per cent chance that the people inside felt anything or had any notion of what was happening.'

But this appears to have been contradicted by the report that said there was chance passengers would have been conscious as the jet plunged to the ground.

Barry Sweeney, whose son Liam, 28, was on board, said he had been told that the passengers would have died soon after impact.

He told the BBC: 'That is a comfort for 298 sets of relatives. We cannot be 100 per cent, but we have to think that was the case.'

He added: 'I'm going to have to go away and think 'Yes, Liam died instantly as (did) 297 other people'. If you think otherwise, it's going to hurt forever.'

Obliterated: Inside the wrecked cockpit of the Malaysian Airlines jet after it was reconstructed at the Gilze Rijen airbase in The Netherlands

The destroyed fuselage of the MH17 is presented to the press during a presentation of the final report on the crash at the Gilze Rijen airbase

Passengers would have died due to decompression, reduced oxygen levels, extreme cold, powerful airflow and flying objects, the report said

Terrifying: The report said 'it cannot be ruled out some occupants remained conscious' during the 60 to 90 seconds before the plane crashed

Liam was travelling with his friend and fellow Newcastle United superfan John Alder to watch their side play pre-season games in New Zealand.

Mr Sweeney believed his son was 'probably having a drink' as the plane flew high over Ukraine, and would have been excited.

'It was the trip of a lifetime, unfortunately they didn't get there,' Mr Sweeney said, adding that would, too, raise a glass to remember his son.

He said: 'I'm sure he would've been having a few pints of Newcastle Brown Ale while on the plane and I'll be having a few pints for him today.'

Claudio Villaca-Vanetta, whose husband Glenn Thomas, from Blackpool, died on board MH17, told BBC Radio 4's World at One: 'We had some of the answers we were looking for today, but by far not all of them.

'We now know for sure that Malaysia Airlines was allowed to fly there, and we know now that it was a bad decision by Ukraine to leave the airspace open and that by just raising the cruise height it was safe for commercial airliners.

'We know there was a missile which is manufactured in Russia only. Of course, this doesn't tell us who did it, who is accountable for it. That is where we want to get now.'

Mr Villaca-Vanetta said victims' families had been told their loved ones would have died instantly or very quickly.

But he added: 'Even if it was the estimated nine seconds for somebody to lose consciousness, it is still a lot of time.

'For most families of victims, including myself, we went through counselling and this was maybe the hardest point to accept - the cruelty and the violence on bodies.'

The grieving sister of one of the victims, meanwhile, called on Vladimir Putin to speak to families of the 298 after it emerged the jet was brought down by a Russian-made missile.

Tracey Withers, whose brother Glenn Thomas was among the 10 Britons who died, told ITV News that if Mr Putin had time to call Elton John, he should make the effort to speak to grieving relatives.

The Russian leader had spoken to the star about gay rights.

The DSB also said there were lessons for the aviation industry to learn about flying over war zones.

There were 160 planes which flew over eastern Ukraine that day, and three others were in the area when it was brought down.

In the previous days several military aircraft had been shot down at lower altitude, yet air space above 32,000ft was open to commercial flights.

Outlining the report findings, DSB chairman Tjibbe Joustra said: 'Every single one of those operators thought that was safe'.

The report recommended that countries where armed conflict was taking place should do more to ensure air safety and carriers should be more transparent about the routes they use.

In response, the British Airline Pilots' Association called for greater international co-operation on no-fly zones.

Ukraine and Western countries contend the airliner was downed by a missile fired by Russia-backed rebels or Russian forces, from rebel-controlled territory.

However, a Russian state-controlled missile-maker held a press conference today to coincide with the report's release to say its own investigation contradicts conclusions from the Dutch probe.

Almaz-Antey says it conducted two experiments - in one of which a Buk missile was detonated near the nose of an airplane similar to a 777 - that contradict that conclusion.

The experimental aircraft's remains showed a much different submunitions damage pattern than seen on the remnants of MH17, the company said in a statement.





The BUK missile exploded to the left of the cockpit, causing it to break off as it was showered with fragments of metal (pictured above)

Scott Choo, 12, the son of MH17 co-pilot Eugene Choo, poses in his father's uniform in his bedroom near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today

MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile fired from rebel-held eastern Ukraine, a report by Dutch investigators has concluded

A Russian BUK surface-to-air missile system like the one which Dutch investigators say was fired at MH17

The experiments also refute what it said was the Dutch version, that the missile was fired from Snizhne, a village that was under rebel control. An Associated Press reporter saw a Buk missile system in that vicinity on the same day.

'We have proven with our experiments that the theory about the missile flying from Snizhne is false,' Almaz-Antey's director general Yan Novikov told a news conference at a sprawling high-tech convention center in Moscow.

Almaz-Antey in June had said that a preliminary investigation suggested that the plane was downed by a model of BUK that is no longer in service with the Russian military but that was part of the Ukrainian military arsenal.

Information from the first experiment, in which a missile was fired at aluminum sheets mimicking an airliner's fuselage, was presented to the Dutch investigators, but was not taken into account, Almaz-Antey chief Novikov said.

Novikov said evidence shows that if the plane was hit by a Buk, it was fired from the village of Zaroshenske, which Russia says was under Ukrainian government control at the time.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that the draft report said the plane was destroyed by a Buk surface-to-air missile fired from the village of Snizhne.

Many reports, including an investigation by the open-source group Bellingcat, also suggest the plane was downed by a missile fired from near Snizhne.

Officials from Russian state-controlled missile-maker Almaz-Antey hold a press conference to say their own investigation contradicts conclusions from the Dutch probe

An official from Russia's missile maker Almaz-Antey presents the results of the company's investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 at a press conference in Moscow

Russia's missile maker Almaz-Antey shows video of a reconstructed plane explosion in a bid to debunk the Dutch findings

The investigation was led by Holland because 196 of the victims were Dutch.

A preliminary report by the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) in September last year said wreckage was 'consistent with the damage that would be expected from a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside'.

Despite the difficulty in accessing the site due to fighting in the area, the black box flight recorders were recovered early on and were passed to the DSB after being inspected at the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) headquarters at Farnborough in Hampshire.

In its preliminary report, the DSB said the black box information showed the MH17 flight proceeded normally until 1.20pm local time on July 17, 2014 after which all recordings 'ended abruptly'.

The DSB said pieces of wreckage were pierced in numerous places and that most likely there had been 'an in-flight break-up'.

The reconstruction of the plane echoed the work done by the AAIB which gathered wreckage from Pan Am flight 103 after it exploded over Lockerbie in December 1988 and painstakingly rebuilt part of the fuselage at Farnborough as part of its investigation.

The MH17 disaster followed on from the disappearance in March last year of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 237 passengers on board.