By Khairie Hisyam
With the tragic disappearance of MH370 in March as yet unresolved, another Malaysian Airlines flight has met with catastrophe. Either one of MH370 or MH17 tragedies would have been heartbreaking enough for a lifetime but to have both happen within 132 days of each other is surely unprecedented for any airline.
News of MH17’s crash near Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine last night, with no survivors, means Malaysian Airlines (MAS) has seen over 500 lives lost across two incidents in just over four months.
Unlike the strange disappearance of MH370 on March 8 and the fruitless outcome of the largest search effort of its kind in history in the aftermath, however, what happened last night was clear-cut.
The plane full of innocent civilians was shot down with a surface-to-air missile while passing through a conflict zone, according to officials from various nations, who pretty much lay the blame on pro-Russian separatists who have denied responsibility.
Just like that, innocent lives were gone. There was a family of six from Kuching, looking forward to a new beginning in Malaysia after years abroad. There was the Dutch couple looking forward to a Malaysian holiday experience. And there were infants, dozens of children whose lives have just begun with so much promise for the future, only to be snuffed out by a misguided missile.
Heart-wrenching images on social media by those who got to the crash site soon after showed numerous passports and lifeless bodies whose lives were stolen from them. One particular stand-out image was that of a child, still strapped to the plane seat, dead.
And thus today Malaysia continues to mourn, the knife of grief re-twisted into Malaysians’ hearts that were still bleeding from the devastating loss of MH370 earlier this year.
So do the other nations whose nationals were lost last night — the Netherlands, Australia and Indonesia among others. Sharing the grief would be those who lost loved ones when MH370 went dark.
A time for solidarity
It is in these trying times that Malaysians should come together as one. In the face of such a national disaster, political ideologies and allegiance should be left at the door.
Now we need to close ranks behind MAS, our national carrier, as it grapples with a terrifyingly spectacular misfortune in a short span of roughly four months. While the exact reasons and circumstances surrounding MH370’s disappearance remain as yet unclear, last night was simply horrible luck.
What can civilian pilots do when someone decides, unannounced, to blow their plane out of the sky with a BUK missile? What were the odds that MAS’ plane would be the one hit amid dozens of flights passing by one of the most crucial air routes in the world?
While the MAS plane did pass through a conflict zone, speculation that it did so to save burning fuel by taking a shortcut is unfair and degrading to our lost pilots. United Kingdom-based Daily Mail, in an article today, alleged that:
“It is believed that the Malaysian Airlines pilots ignored several warnings to avoid the airspace over Ukraine. It is understood the Malaysian Airline jet used the Ukrainian route to save fuel as diverting north or south would have taken longer.”
These allegations are grossly unfair, implying that MAS courted danger by choosing a more dangerous path.
This ignores the reality that the air route MH17 was flying along when it went down, known as L980, is among the most popular and most congested in the world, linking key international hubs in Europe to Asian megacities, counting dozens of flights every day.
It also bears repeating that European air traffic controllers have confirmed that MH17 flew at a safe level.
“According to our information, the aircraft was flying at Flight Level 330 (approximately 10,000 metres/33,000 feet) when it disappeared from the radar,” said EuroControl on its website. “This route had been closed by the Ukrainian authorities from ground to flight level 320 but was open at the level at which the aircraft was flying.”
It is against such unfair allegations that Malaysians need to rally together behind MAS in order to ensure that it is not unfairly blamed for what is a freak incident beyond its control.
While MAS may have room for improvement in terms of its immediate response after the incident broke, now is not the time to find faults and point fingers. Now is the time to offer solace to each other as we grapple with yet another deep wound in our hearts.
Now is the time to be Malaysians first and stand firm together in memory of our fallen countrymen.
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