There was “no evidence of technical or human error” in the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, according to a report by the Dutch Safety Board.
The report says the aircraft broke up in mid-air after being hit by “numerous objects” that “pierced the plane at high speed”.
All 298 people on board died when the Boeing 777 came down in eastern Ukraine, amid reports it was shot down by pro-Russian rebels. The aircraft was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed on July 17.
Dutch aviation investigators relied on information from the black box flight data recorders, air traffic control, satellite images and photos from the scene to compile the preliminary report.
They said the 777 “broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-speed objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside.”
The cockpit voice recorder revealed no signs of any technical faults or an emergency situation.
The report does not attribute blame or liability for the crash but a separate criminal investigation is being conducted by prosecutors in The Hague, the BBC reported.
The board expects its final report to be published within a year.