MAS: MH17 following Ukrainian ATC order to fly at 33,000 ft

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SEPANG: The Ukrainian air traffic control (ATC) did not permit Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 to scale 35,000 feet, MAS director of operations, Captain Izham Ismail said yesterday.

He said MH17 planned to fly at 35,000 feet but according to the ATC, there was other traffic at that time, and the ATC ordered the doomed plane to fly at the next best altitude at 33,000 feet, which was above the restricted altitude.

According to Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, the direction given by the ATC needed to be obeyed since the route was under the ATC’s jurisdiction.

Izham said the route which MH17 flew was located about 100km from the restricted area, adding the ATC was actually the one which determined whether any aircraft could use the route.

“The distance between the MH17 path and the restricted area was 100km away. The restricted area is located in the southern part while the MH17 path was 100km north from the restricted area,” he told a press conference at the Sama-Sama Hotel here.

Izham denied reports that MH17 had deviated from its flight path to avoid a hurricane.

“There was no hurricane in that vicinity as confirmed by other flights which came later.

“We are aware of the tweets and status on the social media with regards to pilots reporting they reverted to us regarding the route changes…it is false. There was no report from our pilot,” he said. — Bernama