Tag: Malaysia Airlines

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President Obama pays tribute to AIDS researchers killed on downed Malaysia Airlines flight

As I reported earlier, over 100 HIV/AIDS researchers on their way to the 2014 World AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia, died on the Malaysia Airlines flight shot down yesterday.

President Obama mentioned them and their contributions today in a press conference.

Let me close by making one additional comment. On board Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, there were apparently nearly 100 researchers and advocates traveling to an international conference in Australia dedicated to combating AIDS/HIV. These were men and women who had dedicated their own lives to saving the lives of others and they were taken from us in a senseless act of violence.

In this world today, we shouldn’t forget that in the midst of conflict and killing, there are people like these — people who are focused on what can be built rather than what can be destroyed; people who are focused on how they can help people that they’ve never met; people who define themselves not by what makes them different from other people but by the humanity that we hold in common.

It’s important for us to lift them up and to affirm their lives. And it’s time for us to heed their example.

(via transcript)

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Over 100 AIDS experts were on Malaysia Airlines flight shot down over Ukraine

A large number of world-renowned AIDS researchers and activists heading to an international AIDS conference in Australia were on board a Malaysian jetliner that was shot down over Ukraine, officials said Friday, as news of their deaths sparked an outpouring of grief across the global scientific community.

There have been unconfirmed reports that up to 100 people on board the Boeing 777 were en route to the Victoria state capital of Melbourne to attend the 20th International AIDS conference, which starts Sunday, Victoria Premier Denis Napthine said, though he hastened to add that reports were conflicting and it was far too premature to give a precise figure.

The plane, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, crashed Thursday with 298 people on board. American intelligence authorities believe a surface-to-air missile brought the aircraft down but it was not yet clear who fired it.

– from ABC News

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Hillary Clinton talks with Charlie Rose about Malaysia Airline flight shot down

Hillary Clinton, on a current media tour for her new book Hard Choices, shared her thoughts with Charlie Rose on the Malaysia Airline flight that was shot down today.

From Mediaite:

She noted that the Ukrainian government has been quick to blame the crash on “terrorists,” which is “their name for the Russian insurgents.” Clinton agreed that it “probably had to be” Russian insurgents that brought the plane down, but would need forensic evidence to determine that for sure.

“If there is evidence pointing in that direction, the equipment had to come from Russia,” Clinton continued. “There is a great deal of concern that, not only was a civilian plane shot down, but what this means about the continuing conflict in Eastern Ukraine and the role that Russia is playing.”

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Malaysian Airlines flight shot down over eastern Ukraine

All major news sources are reporting a Malaysia Airlines flight, traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, has crashed in eastern Ukraine:

Malaysia Airlines confirmed that it lost contact with Flight 17 and that the plane’s last known position was over Ukrainian airspace, the airline said on Twitter.

The aircraft was “shot down” over Ukraine by “terrorists” operating a Buk surface-to-air missile system, according to the Facebook page of Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. There were 280 passengers killed as well as 15 crew members, Gerashchenko’s post reads.

“We do not exclude that the plane was shot down and confirm that the Ukraine Armed Forces did not fire at any targets in the sky,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, according to his website.

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Investigators say it’s clear “deliberate actions” was involved in Malaysia Airliner disapperance

Catch on the latest in the investigation of the missing Malaysia Airliner.

The number of countries helping out in the desperate search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has grown considerably.

CNN reports the search team has expanded from 14 to 25 countries. Malaysia’s acting transportation minister called the shift a “significant recalibration.”

And, as the search radius grows, so has the investigation into how the flight went off the radar. On Saturday, The New York Times pointed out the search had turned into a criminal investigation.

Malaysia’s prime minister said Saturday it’s clear that “deliberate action” was taken on the flight when it veered off course last weekend.

And now police are investigating whether the pilot and co-pilot might have played a role in the 777’s mysterious disappearance. (Via ITV)

Police have searched the home of the flight’s pilot and reportedly seized a flight simulator to investigate. Police also searched the co-pilot’s house, but it’s unclear whether police took anything from there.

And investigators aren’t stopping there. Al Jazeera reports Malaysia has asked for background checks on all the passengers who were on the flight and for any radar information that could show where the plane has gone.

The week-long investigation has turned up little information about the flight, and the BBC notes investigators are looking at a wide variety of causes for the disappearance: “so terrorism, piracy or even an elaborate suicide are all options now being considered.”

The plane’s transponder last communicated with ground radar over the South China Sea. According to the Malaysian government, the last known location of the flight on satellite was over the middle of the Indian Ocean.

(via Newsy)

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Communications systems on missing Malaysia Airliner may have been deliberately turned off

The investigation of the missing Malaysia Airliner continues to twist and turn as officials now believe two communications systems may have been manually turned off.

From ABC News:

Two U.S. officials tell ABC News the U.S. believes that the shutdown of two communication systems happened separately on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. One source said this indicates the plane did not come out of the sky because of a catastrophic failure.

The data reporting system, they believe, was shut down 1:07 a.m. The transponder — which transmits location and altitude — shut down at 1:21 a.m.

This indicates it may well have been a deliberate act, ABC News aviation consultant John Nance said.

U.S. officials said earlier that they have an “indication” the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner may have crashed in the Indian Ocean and is moving the USS Kidd to the area to begin searching.


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