Malaysian airline could be hit by surface-to-air missile, says security expert

Terming the Malaysian aircraft's crash a terrible tragedy, security expert Uday Bhaskar today said that given the aircraft's altitude, the possible cause of the crash could be a surface-to-air missile attack.

Bhaskar told ANI, "As an analyst, I would say that the probability of a shoulder fired missile being the cause of this crash is very low. If we accept that the possibility of a surface to air missile is very high, this could be established by the investigators after examining the debris."

"Hypothetically, a civilian aircraft crashing from an altitude of 30, 000 feet would be two possibilities. One is an external impact, like the surface to air missile. Another would be some kind of an explosion within the aircraft. But that would be very low, because the Malaysian Airlines, like other major airlines, has stringent security checks. But it can't be ruled out," he added.

In all probability the investigation would suggest impact or destruction by a surface-to-air missile launched from the ground. Once that is established, it's possible to narrow it down to what kind of a missile was used, Bhaskar said.

A Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people on board crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border, resulting in a second deadly casualty for Malaysian airlines.

While Ukraine has blamed pro-Russian separatists, Russia said that Ukraine was responsible for the crash.