Dutch investigators say Ukrainian authorities should have closed down the airspace over the country's war-torn east before Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down, killing 298 people.
The Dutch Safety Board on Tuesday released its final report into the downing of the plane on July 17 last year, concluding a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile blew it from the sky.
Thirty-eight Australian citizens and residents were aboard the plane along with 198 Dutch nationals.
In releasing the report at Gilze-Rijen air force base in the southern Netherlands, Dutch Safety Board chairman Tjibbe Joustra criticised Ukraine and other authorities for a failure to recognise the risk of flying above a war zone.
The report said that between July 14 and 17 a total of 61 airlines from 32 countries used the airspace above eastern Ukraine and on July 17, the day of the crash, 160 flights were guided through.
It also said that between the end of April and July 17 at least 16 Ukrainian armed forces' helicopters and planes, including fighter aircraft, had been shot down in the war zone.
"Nobody thought that civil aviation was at risk. Every single one of the operators thought it was safe," Mr Joustra said.
"There was sufficient reason to close the airspace as a precaution. The Ukrainian authorities failed to do so,"
He said countries and aviation authorities needed to be more careful to avoid such disasters over war zones in future.
The safety board report said that airlines when selecting flight routes should be able to rely on states restricting or closing their airspace when it is deemed unsafe.
The report recommended a stricter definition of states' responsibility for determining airspace safety and a stronger role for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in such decisions.
It also recommended stronger exchanges of information between states, airline operators and regulatory authorities such as ICAO and IATA.
Mr Joustra said he hoped the report would lead to greater safety for airline passengers.
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