Wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was "consistent with the damage that would be expected from a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside", according to a preliminary report published today.
The Dutch Safety Board (DSB), which is leading the investigation into the disaster, expects to publish the final report within a year after the crash. No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting down of the aircraft which came down over rebel-held territory in Ukraine in July.
It is suspected that the plane was hit by a missile fired by pro-Russian separatists.
The Boeing 777 broke up in the air, most likely as a result of structural damage after being penetrated from the outside, the Hague-based investigator said.
“There are no indications that the MH17 crash was caused by a technical fault or by actions of the crew,” the safety board said, adding that the flight had proceeded as normal, “after which it ended abruptly.”
The plane was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, with the majority of those on board being Dutch. The DSB has not been able to visit the crash site because the safety of the investigators could not be guaranteed in an area where fighting continues .
An analysis of the cockpit voice recorder revealed no warning tones in the cockpit, and no emergency was declared by the flight crew, today’s report said.
“The pattern of wreckage on the ground suggests that the aircraft split into pieces during flight,” according to the safety board.
Only a few members of the team investigating the crash briefly gained access to the site after the impact. The preliminary findings are based on the cockpit voice recorder, flight data recorder, data from air traffic control, radar images and satellite photos, the board said.
Dutch travelers made up the biggest national group that were on board of MH17 at more than 190. Other nationalities included people from Australia, Indonesia, the UK, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.
The black boxes from the flight were recovered and taken to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch's (AAIB) headquarters in Farnborough, Hampshire, for analysis. The DSB said both the boxes were damaged but valid flight data had been successfully downloaded.
Agencies