Ukraine Alert on Air Dangers Didn’t Provide Full Account

[Purveyor]

By Alan Levin and Frederic Tomesco Jul 30, 2014 10:43 AM ET

Ukraine’s alert to airlines three days before a Malaysian Air passenger jet was shot down described a “restricted” area without noting fighting on the ground or evidence that rebels had surface-to-air missiles.

The July 14 Notice to Airmen, known as a NOTAM, also made no mention of the Russian-backed rebels downing a Ukrainian military aircraft in the vicinity that day, according to a copy of the alert filed with European regulators.

Had Ukraine provided a more thorough accounting of dangers, commercial airlines may have avoided the region, said Thomas Haueter, the retired chief of aviation accident investigations at the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, said in an interview. Without complete information, airlines are often leaving safety to guesswork.

“There was no background information or detail as to what the nature of the threat was,” Haueter said. “If the airlines had known the nature of the threat and how serious it was, that could have influenced their decision to fly in the area.”

As a United Nations-led task force retreats for six to eight weeks to work on ideas for addressing the lapses in security that contributed to the July 17 Malaysian Air incident, the quality and lack of security disclosure by countries is emerging as a main obstacle.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/ukraine-alert-on-air-dangers-didn-t-provide-full-account.html

[MrNJ]

1. At the time the separatists where using the shoulder-fired missiles only

Those cannot reach the 33000' altitude of commercial airlines.

Russia supplying them BUKs was not expected I guess.