MH17 plane crash: Airlines chief urges safer flight paths

In the wake of the recent crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine, the airline's commercial director has reportedly called for the creation of a new body to decide on safer flight paths.

According to Sky News, the Malaysia Airlines official Hugh Dunleavy said airlines could no longer rely on decisions made by existing industry bodies on which volatile regions are secure to fly over.

Dunleavy added that the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the Ukrainian authorities and the European airspace service provider Eurocontrol had approved MH17's flight path, inspite of the fact that the plane was to fly over a conflict zone.

He urged the airlines and existing aviation bodies to review existing processes and set more stringent standards and also insisted on a higher level of authority for the sake of passenger and crew safety.

Meanwhile, the team investigating the MH17 crash in Ukraine has identified the first of the 298 persons on board who was killed when the plane was shot with a surface to air missile on July 17.

A statement released by the Dutch government, who is leading the investigation, confirmed on Saturday that the victim was Dutch and added that the victim's family and the mayor of the town in which they live have been informed, reported News 24.

Out of the 298 people that the Boeing 777 aircraft was carrying, 193 were Dutch.

The Dutch government, which has been entrusted with the responsibility of identifying all the crash victims, said that it could take months for all the victims to be identified.