MH17 crash: Ukraine rebels give up black boxes

Rebels in eastern Ukraine have handed over two flight-data recorders from the downed MH17 plane to Malaysian experts.

A senior rebel leader signed them over to the Malaysian officials at a meeting in the city of Donetsk.

The handover came hours after the UN Security Council voted unanimously to demand immediate international access to the crash site.

The Malaysian Airlines passenger jet crashed last Thursday, killing all 298 people on board.

Western nations say there is growing evidence that flight MH17 was hit by a Russian-supplied missile fired by rebels, but Russia has suggested Ukrainian government forces are to blame.

European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss further measures against Russia later on Tuesday.

Both the EU and the US have imposed sanctions on Moscow following its annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

Experts say the “black boxes” will reveal the exact time of the incident and the altitude and exact position of the aircraft.

They should also contain the cockpit voice recorder, which it is hoped will provide clues as to what the cause of the crash was.

The head of the Malaysian delegation told reporters that the recorders were “in good condition.”

Viewed 1 times
MH17 crash: Ukraine rebels give up black boxes

Angry relatives in China detain Malaysian airline staff over missing flight

 

Reuters – Angry relatives of people missing on Malaysian Airline flight MH370 held some members of the carrier’s staff for more than 10 hours in a hotel in Beijing, the airline said on Friday.

The jetliner vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Many of the passengers were from China and their relatives have grown increasingly frustrated with the failure of a multi-national search to find any trace of the plane.

More than 200 family members held 10 Malaysian Airline staff after a briefing at a Beijing hotel, only releasing them early on Friday, the airline said.

“Malaysia Airlines confirms that its staff were held at the Lido Hotel ballroom in Beijing by the family members of MH370 as the families expressed dissatisfaction in obtaining details of the missing aircraft,” the airline said.

In another incident, a Chinese family member attacked a Malaysian Airline’s security supervisor on duty at same hotel on Tuesday, the airline said.

The member of staff sustained a light injury and the airline had filed a police report, it added.

The search for missing airliner is likely to drag on for years, a senior U.S. defense official said earlier on Friday, as an underwater search for any trace of the plane’s wreckage off west Australia appeared to have failed.

Angry relatives in China detain Malaysian airline staff over missing flight