SIA must explain use of 'danger' route

The crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17 is a terrible tragedy with international repercussions yet to be fully played out. Our hearts go out to the 298 victims and their families.

I am disturbed that despite clear evidence that Ukrainian transport planes travelling at altitude had been shot down by rebel forces in this region of Ukraine, some international airlines continued to use this route.

A radar map widely circulated on the Internet showed SQ351 within 25km of the downed MH17 - just two minutes' flight time from disaster.

As a loyal customer of Singapore Airlines, I am shocked to learn that an SIA plane was flying through the danger zone when MH17 was brought down, whereas CNN reported that airlines such as British Airways and Air France had been avoiding the area for months.

I would like to ask SIA to explain why this was so, and to tell us how it would improve its flight planning to better avoid hazardous areas.

Su Guaning

This article was first published on July 22, 2014.
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