Malaysian passenger plane shot down over Ukraine

My microblog notes this evening:

A Malaysian passenger jet was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine today. It occurred around mid-day our time, but as of 8:55 p.m., I have not read a story about it yet. I'm waiting for the media to finish with their rush-to-be-first-with-errors period.

It's best to wait 6 to 12 hours after the event has occurred to read a story, which I will call version 1.0. Then wait another 12 hours to read version 2.0. Consuming too much information in the initial hours leads to a confusing waste of time.

At 9:26 p.m., I have tabs open for the following links and will consume in the following order:

1. http://cir.ca/news/malaysia-airlines-flight-17
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17
3. http://www.vox.com/2014/7/17/5913209/malaysia-airlines-ukraine-russia
4. http://www.vox.com/2014/7/17/5912677/plane-ukraine-malaysia

Excerpts:

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. There were 298 people on board.

Malaysia Airlines lost contact with the plane at 14:15 (GMT) at 30 kilometers from Tamak waypoint, approximately 50 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border, per a company statement.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry says that the plane was brought down by pro-Russia rebels using a BUK surface-to-air missile.

Rebel group the Donetsk People's Republic and the Ukrainian government have both denied shooting it down.

U.S. intelligence has determined that a surface-to-air missile brought down MH17, but has been unable to determine who fired it.

The Ukrainian security agency (SBU) uploaded a YouTube clip purported to be a conversation between separatist commander Igor Bezler and a Russian intelligence officer. In the conversation Bezler says, "We have just shot down a plane." In a second intercepted conversation, apparently between two militants, a man says, "It's 100 percent a passenger aircraft. Absolutely [no weapons]. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper."

Eurocontrol, the European flight safety body, said that MH17 was flying at flight level 330 (approx. 33,000 ft). The route MH17 was flying was closed to traffic below 32,000 ft. In response to the incident, Eurocontrol has closed all airspace in eastern Ukraine.

Rebels are denying responsibility. "We simply do not have such air defense systems," they're quoted as saying in a tweet from New York Times reporter Ellen Barry sourced to Interfax.

The rebels had previously claimed to have a Buk system, according to a June 29 report sourced to the rebel Donetsk People's Republic press service.

The Buk surface-to-air missile system is a "sophisticated system requiring a whole suite of radar and command vehicles," according to the US embassy in Kiev. In other words, this isn't some shoulder-fired missile in the style of ragtag militias — it takes real training and resources to use.

Rebels had previously said they were shooting at Ukrainian fighter jets with rockets, including "two or three" on Wednesday evening, the day before the MH17 crash, the New York Times reported.

A social media account associated with Ukrainian rebel commander Igor Strelkov appeared to take credit for shooting down a plane over Ukraine earlier today, but later deleted the post.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/world/europe/malaysia-airlines-plane-leaves-trail-of-debris.html

http://pando.com/2014/07/17/five-things-to-consider-about-the-downing-of-malaysian-airlines-mh17-in-ukraine/