MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — Earlier in the day, the Dutch Safety Board released a report on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board. According to the report, the aircraft crashed as result of a ground-to-air missile explosion near the left side of the plane.
"This is just a starting point, this report. Although it is a final report on the investigation, it is not a complete deal so to speak," Julian Bray, an aviation and security expert, said.
He explained that "various people will take the bits of this report, they would look at it and work on it."
Bray stressed that Tuesday’s presentation of the report was very technical, and the next stage would be for the Dutch prosecutors and lawyers to decide who was responsible. After they define the responsible party, they will launch a legal case against them.
Martin McCauley, a British historian and a political commentator, agreed that the Dutch Safety Board report was technical and would never satisfy all the parties involved. He noted that a criminal investigation that would follow Tuesday’s report would be even more difficult as it would have to take into account the evidence provided by all sides.
"We will have to continue looking into the evidence. Obviously, the Dutch haven’t revealed everything they have, because they own hundreds of pieces of debris provided," McCauley said, adding that the conclusions could be changed "if other evidence is revealed and the case could go in another direction."
Bray agreed, noting that the report is not blaming anybody, as the Dutch Safety Board tried "to get to what actually happened there, they try to make the point that the Buk missiles was actually used by both sides on the ground."
Dutch Safety Board chairman Tjibbe Joustra said Tuesday that the Russian comments on the events were "studied extensively" in the investigation, yet not the data from Almaz-Antey, the Buk manufacturer. This information, the experts stress, should be used in the criminal investigation that would follow Tuesday’s report.
"I think that the Russian data, would be better used in the criminal investigation that would certainly follow this report, so it has not been ignored," Bray said.
McCauley stressed that it was impossible to identify who fired the missile on the basis of currently available evidence. The criminal investigation should include the Russian information, as well as data from Almaz-Antey, he added.
"It is up to the Russian authorities to provide the information they have, and the rebels and the Kievan government should also supply the evidence they have. And then try should all be put together."
Bray noted that Russian data should be taken into account during the investigation.
He stressed that the report itself had a great value for civilian aviation, particularly putting an end to flying over war zones. He also suggested that all aircraft should have real-time satellite voice and data links to ground stations instead of relying on black boxes.
