- What we know about Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
- Extended coverage: Malaysia Airlines jet MH17 shot down, 27 Aussies among 295 killed
A leading aviation expert says Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 shouldn't have been flying anywhere near Ukraine to begin with.
Flight MH17 was carrying 298 people, including 27 Australians, from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in rebel-held east Ukraine.
Professor Geoff Dell is an accident investigation and safety specialist from Central Queensland University.
He told SBS that the accident could have been avoided.
"You just wouldn't put your plane.. and your customers at risk," he said.
"The whole of Europe is a spider's web of air routes that you can choose from, and you don't need to put yourself at risk - especially on a long flight like that.
"There are alternatives and you take them."
Authorities in Europe and the United States advised airlines not to pass over the region in April.
Professor Dell says it's unlikely the crash will change the way these warnings are managed.
"The system is robust," he said.
"It wasn't because the information wasn't available, it seems to me it wasn't heeded. Or if it was heeded, it seems they made some really bad decisions."
"You're kind of playing a Russian roulette game if you don't respond to (warnings) constructively.
"You take a risk averse approach, you take the intelligence, you make decisions about altering your operation so it just isn't a problem."
