That the second nightmare of international aviation should also occur with the same airline is a coincidence beyond belief. But whether it was the Russians, the Ukrainians or the pro-Russian rebels who fired that missile at a dot in the sky, it brings to focus the danger of civilian aircraft flying over war zones.

Right over this area Ukraine lost an Anotov AN26 transporter and a third generation Su-25 fighter surface to air missiles fired from the SA17 system. The obvious conclusion is that trigger happy troops are seeing a silvery dot in the sky simply let fly. No one on that plane would have even seen it coming.

The SA17 Grizzly (western codename for it) missile struck the tail rather than heat source which is the engines, or so we have been informed, which is the most powerful of the Russian arsenal. Now, the plane without its tail and in full thrust at 700kph would have gone into an uncontrolled dive almost immediately. Adding to that thrust and the loss of cabin pressure the screaming dive should actually have torn the plane apart. The engine from their moorings and the integrity of the fuselage totally compromised would have been whipped away over 30,000 feet. That is nearly 10km high.

It is very unlikely that speed combined with uncontrolled thrust and gravity as an add on the aircraft would have maintained that structural integrity.

There is very little the pilots could have done. From the moment of impact it was out of their hands.

As for the investigation, the wreckage areas has already been compromised. Civilians looking for souvenirs and standing on pieces of aircraft make a mockery of sanitizing the zone. The tragedy is compounded by the fact that there is no access by the NTSB or any investigative body to the site and no one will ever know who did it.

Usually, aircraft have felt it safe to fly at over 28,000 ft while crossing conflict zones. But the Malaysian horror has given airlines round the world much food for thought. It could have been any carrier. Lufthansa, KLM have rerouted their flights. US carriers are seriously considering doing the same.

Though this is all hindsight it is a matter of deep concern that neither ICAO nor IATA (which is actually a clearing house but has asserted executive authority) not sent out an alert… the introspection is mandated… are airlines too blase about the odds.

For Malaysian the anger of MH370 and its victims has been joined by sadness for MH17 that hits human souls.