MH17 black boxes will be passed to UK Air Accidents investigators for forensic analysis - Liow

The International Investigation team has decided to pass the black boxes from Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 to the United Kingdom Air Accidents Investigation Branch for forensic analysis, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said it was a normal procedure for black boxes to be sent for analysis to the nearest laboratory authorised by the International Civil Aviation Association.

"The black boxes will therefore be flown to Farnborough, United Kingdom, accompanied by Malaysian experts and other members of the international investigation team," he said in a statement here today.

The International Investigation team is led by The Netherlands.

Liow said this decision was reached following the agreement between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and the leader of the crash site, Alexander Borodai.

"Following the agreement Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak brokered with rebel leaders (in eastern Ukraine), Malaysia has taken custody of Flight MH17's black boxes. As the Prime Minister said, they will be passed to the international investigation team for analysis," he said.

Malaysia on Monday had secured agreement for the release of the victims' bodies and black boxes on MH17, as well as for international investigators to have access to the crash site in Grabove in eastern Ukraine.

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have reportedly handed over the two black boxes found at the crash site to the Malaysian investigation team on Tuesday.

Flight MH17, with 283 passengers and 15 crew members onboard, was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine last Thursday, believed to have been fired upon by a surface-to-air missile.