Netherlands
Netherlands and Malaysia Airlines flights MH370 and MH17
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777, was carrying 12 crew and 227 passengers when it departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday 8 March 2014 but went missing. One of those passengers was a Dutch lady returning to Holland via Beijing.
Eighteen weeks later, on Thursday 17 July 2014 another Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam at 12:15 (local time) and was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.10 am (Malaysia local time) the next day.
Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine. There were no survivors.
Of the 283 passengers, 193 were Dutch.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
MH370 went missing for reasons that may never be known. The search for the aircraft is the most extensive ever. Some debris has been recovered but although the wreckage is believed to be on the floor of the southern Indian Ocean it is yet to be found. Human remains will never be recovered and for family, next-of-kin and friends grief is ambiguous or unresolved. The official Investigation, following ICAO guidelines, is not permitted to assign blame. Anger has nowhere to focus.
Dutch passengers on MH370 are listed here:
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17
When flight MH17 was brought down by a missile the wreckage was scattered, and access was made difficult by wartime conditions, but it was tangible. Human remains could be recovered and identified. A memorial has been constructed. Grief is profound but the finality of the flight is known and the criminal investigation focussed on assigning blame. Shooting down a commercial aircraft is a criminal act. It was unprovoked, deliberate and 298 people died prematurely.
All 15 crew members were Malaysian. The Preliminary Report provided nationality for the passengers:-
| The Netherlands | 193 |
| Malaysia | 43 |
| Australia | 27 |
| Republic of Indonesia | 12 |
| United Kingdom | 10 |
| Federal Republic of Germany | 4 |
| Belgium | 4 |
| Republic of the Philippines | 3 |
| Canada | 1 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
Details
The section of this website for flight MH17 is here: MH17.
The Passenger Manifest is here: MH17 Passenger Manifest.
References are indexed according to source:-
- Government of the Netherlands - Reports, brochures and websites
- Malaysia Airlines - Media Statements
- Ministry of Transport (Malaysia) - Press Statements
Netherlands, Holland and the Dutch
The Netherlands is officially known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but mostly referred to by the short name Netherlands, or Holland, and the people of, or from, the Netherlands are called Dutch.
To be more precise though, the Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of 12 provinces; the two provinces of North Holland and South Holland together are Holland; so Netherlands means the whole country. The official language of the Netherlands is Dutch.