'Impossible for air-to-air missile to down MH17'

Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein Saturday said it was impossible that an air-to-air missile was used to shoot down the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that crashed in Ukraine July 17.

"It was a surface-to-air missile and in that area, such a system could be available to the Ukrainian side or the rebel forces," the Malaysian Star quoted Hishamuddin as saying.

Hishamuddin remarks were based on military intelligence and from investigating the remains of MH17.

It was reported that intelligence officials in the US had already concluded that the plane was shot down by an air-to-air missile, and that the Ukrainian government had something to do with it.

Flight MH17, a Boeing 777, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed after being hit by a missile in Ukraine near the Russian border July 17, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

This is the second major tragedy for Malaysia Airlines this year after flight MH370 with 239 passengers and crew on board went missing while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing March 8.

The flight remains untraced till date despite intense international search efforts.