MH17: Filipino Passengers Identified, Use of Safe Routes Reassured by PAL

The identities of the three Filipino passengers who perished on Malaysian Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 were released by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).  

Image source: Craig/Wikimedia
The passengers were Irene Gunawan (54) and her children Sherryl Gunawan (14) and Darryl Gunawan (20).  The family was based in the Netherlands.  At the time of release, the DFA did not disclose where they were ultimately headed to.  However in a recent newscast, Irene's brother, Tirso Pabellon, later revealed that they were expected to arrive in Manila around 2 pm on July 18 for a family reunion.  Pabellon verified the news with relatives abroad.

Two hundred ninety-eight passengers and crew were on board the ill-fated Boeing 777-200 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday when it was alleged to have been shot down in the Eastern Ukraine by Russian Rebels.  It is presumed all of them, most of whom were Dutch nationals, perished with the carrier.  World leaders condemned the incident, calling for a thorough and immediate investigation. They expressed their sympathy to the families of the victims and the Malaysian people.    

Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines reaffirmed that it does not utilise Ukrainian airspace for its Manila-London flight.  PR720 and its return counterpart, PR721 do not go through the former Soviet Union.  In a statement issued last Friday, PAL assured everyone that it complies with "all safety advisories covering allowed flight routes, areas of restriction or conflict areas, and all other related matters governing flight paths".  Under permitted routings, it uses a more southern route that goes through Indochina, the Indian Subcontinent, Iran, Turkey, Southeastern Europe, Austria, Germany and Belgium.  However, even using a Great Circle trajectory, which is the shortest distance between the two points, PAL is not expected to go anywhere near Ukrainian airspace.

What a MNL-LHR flight would look like when utilising a Great Circle Routing
Image Source: Great Circle Mapper
DFA Spokesperson Charlie Jose said it will be up to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines as to whether to ban Philippine-based carriers from using Ukranian airspace.  Other carriers have also stopped using Ukrainian airspace amidst the incident as the ongoing conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels continues. Additionally, the United States Federal Aviation Administration has banned its carriers from using the same airspace.

SOURCE: ABS-CBN News and GMA News 


4 comments:

  1. After the events of flight MH17, PAL should reconsider its decision to fly into Russian airspace to take a much shorter and most economical route to Europe. PAL should never compromise the safety of its passengers in order to save on fuel costs.

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  2. What was reported here was that rumours were circulating, but PAL didn't actually say it would do so. At this point, we still don't know.

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  3. Please have some respect here.

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  4. DFA Spokesperson Charlie Jose said it will be up to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines as to whether to ban Philippine-based carriers from using Ukranian airspace. Other carriers have also stopped using Ukrainian airspace amidst the incident as the ongoing conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels continues. Additionally, the United States Federal Aviation Administration has banned its carriers from using the same airspace. mora blanket prices in pakistan , best cotton sheets

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