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Malaysia Airlines MH17

Duration
18 July 2014 - 30 April 2015
Military personnel
839
Fatalities
none
Decorations
none

On 17 July 2014, just before 4.30 in the afternoon, contact with a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 was lost. Flight MH17 disappeared from radar while flying over east Ukraine. All 298 people on board, 196 of whom were Dutch nationals, lost their lives. The armed forces were closely involved in the recovery of remains and the investigation into the disaster.

Above a war zone

A civil war had been raging in east Ukraine since April 2014. At issue was the independence of 2 people’s republics. The rebels were receiving support from Russia. Flight MH17 came down in disputed territory that was occupied by rebels, making the recovery of remains difficult. The situation on the ground also hampered the investigation into the cause of the disaster.

Nevertheless, it emerged not long after the event that flight MH17 had probably been downed by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile. The rebels and Russia denied any involvement.

Diplomacy

The news of the disaster came as a shock. Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands set out the priorities:

  • the recovery of remains and the identification of the victims;
  • the investigation into the cause of the disaster;
  • the criminal investigation into the perpetrators.

The Netherlands cooperated closely with the countries that had also lost citizens. All of the countries affected unequivocally agreed on the need to bring matters to as good an end as possible in the given circumstances. The cooperation of the parties in the area in which the crash site was located was less certain, however.

The rebels in particular were an uncertain factor. For political reasons, the Netherlands could not establish direct contact with them. The intermediation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which was deployed in Ukraine on a Special Monitoring Mission at the time, was indispensable in this regard.

At the crash site

OSCE personnel were the first to arrive at the crash site on 18 July. Members of the National Forensic Investigations Team (LTFO) and a number of personal security guards, the first Dutch personnel to travel to the crash site, departed for Ukraine on the same day. They were accompanied by Frans Timmermans, the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs. The first 3 members of the Dutch team, 2 of whom were Ministry of Defence employees, arrived at the crash site on 21 July.

Personnel of the Ukrainian emergency services had already recovered the bodies of some of the victims. The first flight carrying bodies arrived at Eindhoven Air Base on 23 July. After a subdued ceremony, a long procession of hearses travelled to Korporaal van Oudheusden Barracks in Hilversum, where the bodies were identified. The Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force carried out subsequent repatriation flights.

Task force in Ukraine

While the repatriation flights were taking place, preparations for the salvage operation were conducted in the Netherlands. The plan assumed a short operation that would be carried out by a Combined Joint Interagency Task Force (CJIATF). The operation was non-military in nature.

Half of the task force was made up of military personnel. While most had a support role, there were also many specialist members of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Police officers made up most of the other half. The task force was international. In addition to Dutch personnel, there were Australian and Malaysian members.

CJIATF operated from Kharkiv and a forward base in Soledar. Because of the security situation, the task force could not travel to the crash site until 31 July. On 7 August, activities had to be suspended because of fighting in the area.

Continuation of activities

Most personnel returned to the Netherlands to wait until work could be resumed. A small team remained in Ukraine to make it easier to restart the operation. This team continued the salvage work when the situation allowed.

Pieces of wreckage could again be salvaged in the autumn of 2014. These pieces were needed for the investigation into the disaster and the Boeing 777 was partly reconstructed in a hangar at Gilze-Rijen Air Base.

CJIATF resumed its work at the crash site in April 2015. Activities were completed on 29 April. Another specialist team travelled to Ukraine at the beginning of June in connection with the criminal investigation. This team returned to the Netherlands on 1 July 2015.