After months of scientific investigation into the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Plane MH17 in East Ukraine, Dutch experts have said that the doomed airliner broke up mid-air after being hit by "numerous objects" that travelled at high speed.
A report released by the Dutch Safety Board also said that there was no evidence of any "technical or human error", a statement, which points the fighter of blame squarely at the Russian backed rebellions and furthermore to Moscow.
The comprehensive report that gives every detail of the incident from many angles, pointed out, citing imagery evidences that some wreckage from the aircraft had a number of holes and indentations, which is consistent with the plane being struck by shrapnel from a missile.
"Photographs from the wreckage indicated that the material around the holes was deformed in a manner consistent with being punctured by high-energy objects," the report said. "The characteristics of the material deformation around the puncture holes appear to indicate that the objects originated from outside the fuselage."
The preliminary report was supported by information from the black box flight data recorders, air traffic control, satellite images and photos from the scene.
The report further added that the plane "broke up in the air, probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-velocity objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside." The investigators also confirmed that the cockpit voice recorder revealed no sign that the aircraft was having technical faults or was in an emergency situation.
Maintenance history also showed that the aircraft was airworthy without any technical problems when it took off from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with "qualified and experienced crew".
The report also cited Radio communications between the pilot and the Ukrainian air traffic control, to confirm that there was no emergency call made.
Various newspapers have noted that the report only falls short of saying the Boeing 777 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, but its findings appear to overwhelmingly point to that conclusion.
The wide-bodied jet was blown out of the sky on 17 July over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine. All the 298 passengers and crew on board were killed.
