What happened
On the day of the incident, MH17 departed Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport at 12:13 local time, destined for Kuala Lumpur. The Boeing 777 took off from runway 36C at 12:31 local time and reached an initial cruising altitude of FL310. As the aircraft approached the boundary between the Kiev and Dnipropetrovs’k Flight Information Regions, it climbed to FL330.
While operating within the Dnipropetrovs’k FIR, air traffic controllers from Dnipro Control inquired if the aircraft could climb to FL350 to maintain separation from another aircraft, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 7..7. The crew indicated they could not comply with the climb, and the other aircraft subsequently climbed to FL350 to resolve the conflict. Shortly after, the crew requested a track deviation of 20 NM to the left to avoid weather, which was permitted. The crew also inquired about climbing to FL340, but were instructed to remain at FL330 due to traffic.
At 13:19:53 UTC, radar tracking indicated the aircraft had drifted 3.6 NM left of the L980 airway centerline. Controllers directed the crew to fly directly to waypoint RND to avoid other traffic, an instruction the crew acknowledged. However, after receiving a subsequent clearance to proceed to TIKNA via RND, the aircraft ceased communication. At 13:20:03 UTC, both the flight data and cockpit voice recorders stopped transmitting. No distress calls were issued by the crew.
The aircraft suffered a mid-air breakup, resulting in debris being scattered across a wide area. The fuselage center section, along with portions of the stabilizers, was located near Hrabove. The cockpit and nose section landed in a sunflower field in Rozsypne, approximately 6.5 km west-southwest of Hrabove. Additional wreckage, including fuselage parts and doors, was recovered near Petropavlivka.
Findings
At the time of the loss of signal, the aircraft was flying 1,000 feet above airspace that had been designated as restricted by Ukrainian authorities due to active combat in the region. This period of instability followed the recent downing of two Ukrainian Air Force aircraft, specifically an An-26 and a Su-25, in the surrounding area.