Malaysia Jet Brought Down in Ukraine by Missile, U.S. Officials Say

MOSCOW — A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 295 people aboard was shot down on

CreditDmitry Lovetsky/Associated Press

Thursday by a surface-to-air missile, American officials have confirmed. The plane was traveling at about 30,000 feet, according to tracking information from a military spy satellite. The satellite was unable to detect where exactly the missile was fired. Military and intelligence analysts are using mathematical formulas, high-speed computers and other sensors to try to pin down the missile’s point of origin. Other analysts will work with the Ukrainian authorities to recover and analyze pieces of the missile and the aircraft to help determine what kind of missile was fired, the officials said. The plane crashed and burned in an eastern Ukraine wheat field near the Russian border, in an area roiled by fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian officials immediately called the crash an act of terrorism.

“It’s important we get to the bottom of this sooner than later because of the possible repercussions that can flow beyond from this, beyond the tragic loss of life.”

The plane was en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Amsterdam. There were no reported survivors among the 280 passengers and 15 crew members. Ukraine’s president, Petro O. Poroshenko, called for an immediate investigation. Mr. Poroshenko said he had called the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, to express his condolences and to invite Dutch experts to assist in the investigation. “I would like to note that we are calling this not an incident, not a catastrophe, but a terrorist act,” Mr. Poroshenko said. Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, said, “If it transpires that the plane was, indeed, shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must be brought to justice.” Using forensics evidence from the site, as well as the satellite data and any intercepted communications would help analysts and investigators determine who fired the lethal missile. Defense Department officials late Thursday said they were examining the possibility that Ukrainian separatists with Russian advisers may have fired a captured Ukrainian Army BUK missile system. The separatists do not otherwise have the technology to shoot down an airliner at such a high altitude, the officials said. Another possibility, a senior Pentagon official said, was that Russian troops just across the border from eastern Ukraine may have fired the missile. In both scenarios, the senior official said, the missile operator likely mistook the Malaysian airliner for a Ukrainian military transport plane. A third possibility, the official said, was that the Russians supplied the rebels with the SAM. “At this point, we just don’t know,” said the official. Reporters arriving at the scene near the town of Grabovo described dozens of lifeless bodies strewn about, mostly intact, in a field dotted with purple flowers, with remnants of the plane scattered across a road lined with fire engines and emergency vehicles. “It fell down in pieces,” said one rescue worker as tents were set up to gather the dead.

One passenger in a black sweater lay on her back, with blood streaming down her face and her left arm raised. The carcass of the plane was still smoldering, and rescue workers moved through the dark field with flashlights. Dogs barked in the distance, and the air was filled with a bitter smell. A regional airline official said the plane had been flying at about 33,000 feet when radar lost track of it. For months, eastern Ukraine has been the scene of a violent pro-Russian separatist uprising in which a number of military aircraft have been downed. But this would be the first commercial airline disaster to result from the hostilities. Despite the turmoil in eastern Ukraine, the commercial airspace over that part of the country is heavily trafficked and has remained open. Aeroflot, Russia’s national carrier, announced that it had suspended all flights to Ukraine for at least three days. Malaysia Airlines, still reeling from the mysterious loss of another Boeing 777 flight in March, said it had lost contact with Thursday’s flight, MH17, over Ukraine but offered no further details immediately. Mr. Razak said initially in a Twitter post that he was “shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation.” President Obama, who one day earlier had announced strengthened sanctions against Russia over its support for the eastern Ukraine separatists, spoke by telephone with Mr. Putin, who raised the issue of the reports of the downed plane, White House officials said. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Obama had been briefed about the plane crash. Later Mr. Obama said the United States government was working to determine whether any Americans had been aboard the flight. Russia’s Interfax news agency said there had been no Russians aboard.

Jos Nijhuis, CEO of Schiphol Airport, confirmed the 15-member crew were Malaysian nationals and said the plane also carried:

• 154 Dutch passengers.
• 27 from Australia.
• 23 from Malaysia.
• 11 Indonesians.
• Six from the United Kingdom.
• Four from Germany.
• Four from Belgium.
• Three from the Philippines.