With all these cases having disappeared from our collective memory, it is puzzling why, five years down the track, the MH17 downing is still firmly anchored there. Like the above examples, the MH17 disaster was more or less an intentional attack, although the plane itself may have been mistaken by the perpetrators for an enemy aircraft. But the downing of MH17 was never just another plane crash: what made it truly different was that for the first time in history an aircraft disaster left a long trail of digital information, and users of social media were quicker to gather information about what had happened than the regular news organisations.
The rise of the internet and social media has undoubtedly been a contributing factor to the global awareness of this tragedy. On the evening after the disaster, followers of Facebook and Twitter said they had discovered more news about the downing on social media than through regular media outlets such as newspapers and television. People on the scene immediately took to social media with photos and film, even showing the burning parts of the plane just after it had landed in the Ukrainian fields. The stunningly abundant and constant stream of news and footage flooding the internet increased worldwide awareness of the disaster. At the time of previous similar aircraft disasters, social media was non-existent or in its early stages, and so these events slipped quickly into oblivion, sometimes within just days or weeks.
What distinguishes Flight MH17 from other plane crashes is also due to the incredibly complex nature of the disaster. Often in crisis situations the cause surfaces relatively quickly after the occurrence. The story surrounding a disaster, although often not fully coherent, will be pretty much clear within a week of it happening. This was not the case when it came to MH17. Because the plane was shot down in a war zone, it took a long time for experts to access the area, and the cause of the crash and the identity of the perpetrators are still subject to ongoing investigation.
The perception of the disaster was, and still is, dominated by the information presented by politicians, the media and the internet. Because of its international dimension, the MH17 disaster is a highly political affair. Over time the disaster turned into an international crisis that brought back memories of the Cold War, with Russia on one side and the West on the other. Some say that Russia’s constant refusal to show any accountability for its role in the disaster is one of the most shameful demonstrations ever of refusing to accept blame where a major international incident is concerned. Others say Ukraine, as one of the possible suspects, should never have been given membership of the JIT, where it can influence the investigation and exert veto power over the dissemination of findings.
Many facts surfaced after a long period of time, so insights as to the how and why of the downing had to be continually adjusted. After the first hours, people roaming the disaster area were accused of looting; but later, when wedding rings and other items, such as a wallet smelling of smoke and kerosene but with 300 euros still tucked inside it, were returned, relatives mellowed and their judgement became less rigid and more realistic.
No one has officially been accused of the act of downing the MH17. While investigators have called for information on two possible suspects, no charges have yet been brought and no one has appeared at the high-security court based in the business area close to Schiphol airport where any future trial will be held. The ongoing investigation helps keep the story alive, with regular feeds to the media keeping the public informed.
There are still many questions left unanswered concerning Flight MH17 and many of them will most likely stay unanswered for a long time to come. For the relatives and friends of the MH17 victims the wait is by no means over.
Jan Slok is still waiting for his son’s remains. Many relatives are waiting for the right party to be held accountable. Piet Ploeg, the brother of Alex Ploeg, is still waiting for answers, but he isn’t pointing the finger: ‘I’m not very interested in who pushed the button, but [I want to know] who was responsible, which organisation, which country. It could be Russia, it could be Ukraine, it could be the separatists.’
Some families are still waiting for compensation from the airline company, for full cooperation from Russia, for an apology from the separatists (‘Even if they didn’t mean to shoot down a commercial airliner, there is one word we want to hear: and that is “sorry”’), all of them are waiting for the truth.
Quite quickly after the crash, relatives came together and formed a group, the MH17 Disaster Foundation. Many victims were relatively young; they were well-educated and socially and or politically active, as were many of their relatives. The Disaster Foundation has been instrumental in keeping the memory of the victims of the MH17 alive. Every year on 17 July they organise a memorial and they helped found the memorial in Vijfhuizen.
Over the years the MH17 Disaster Foundation has kept the story of their murdered loved ones alive in the media by using Twitter or Facebook accounts, by speaking about the disaster on television and in newspapers, and by sending letters to politicians as well as world leaders, seeking attention on a regular basis.
Many victims have been commemorated with scholarships, institutes, boats, park benches and plaques in their name. An AIDS institute in Amsterdam was named after Joep Lange, the prominent AIDS specialist who died on the flight. The institute will focus its attention on the poorest people in developing countries, to ensure they get adequate medical treatment. The establishment of the institute was funded by the Dutch government as well as by an American contributor.
A local football field was named after Stefan van Nielen.
Gary Slok’s football club, Excelsior, initiated the Gary Slok award for goalkeeper of the year.
Newcastle United announced a new community award to be named after Liam Sweeney and John Alder.
AFEW (AIDS Foundation East-West) International set up the Martine de Schutter Scholarship Fund, which allows participants from Eastern Europe and central Asia to attend the International AIDS Conference.
Four years down the track families still struggle to come to terms with their grief. Hans de Borst, the father of Dutch victim Elsemiek de Borst, posted a heartbreaking tweet about his daughter on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the downing: ‘Every time I think I cannot miss you more than I am missing you now, it appears that I can!’
Most relatives have a photo of their lost loved ones on them, on their mantelpieces, hanging in their homes or in photobooks. They are precious relics; the dead will remain as old as the last picture that was taken of them, there will never be a new photo added to the collection.
Although gone, family members are reminded of them almost every day, sometimes in unexpected ways. A few days after the MH17 crashed, a letter found its way to the home of Stefan van Nielen, the young victim whose brother, Martijn, had escaped the disaster because he had taken a different route to Kuala Lumpur. Stefan had envisioned a life in the tropics and the letter to him was from the Bali company to whom he had applied for a job: his job application had been accepted, the letter said.