A Malaysia Airlines jet en route to Kuala Lumpur International via Schiphol Airport was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, where pro-separatist rebels currently operate.

Having taken off from Amsterdam at 12:15 p.m. local time with 298 people on board, Flight 17 disappeared from air traffic control radar four hours later. According to Eurocontrol, the aircraft was flying at approximately 33,000 feet when it went down over the region of Donestk, Ukraine.

Malaysia Airlines claims that MH17’s flight plan was declared safe by Eurocontrol, the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Air Transportation Association. In the two days before the event, seventy-five airlines followed similar routes.

Flight 17 was shot down in the midst of a conflict zone, as pro-Russian insurgents attempt to institute shadow states in eastern Ukraine.

In the days that followed, accusations regarding how and why the plane was shot down flew.

“Russia’s involvement automatically caused reason to doubt the validity of the crime scene,” Allison Kiang (12) said. “I think that the US needs to step up and play hardball with the Russians because they have continually sidestepped international requests to withdraw from Ukraine.”

According to the New York Times, American intelligence officials have concluded that Russian-trained separatists downed the aircraft after mistaking it for a military jet.

The incident represents Malaysia Airlines’ loss of a second Boeing 777-200ER within a span of less than five months. Although little publicized by news agencies, the flight had an alternate number, KL4103, in a codeshare with Dutch airline KLM.

While the passengers were predominantly Dutch and Malaysian nationals, passengers from eight other countries were on board. At least one American citizen was killed.

Noah Sneider, Palo Alto High School alum and freelance journalist had been based in Ukraine for months when Flight 17 was shot down. He was at the site shortly after the crash.

“People said the plane kind of exploded in the air, and everything rained down in bits and pieces, the plane itself, the people inside,” he said in an interview with CNN.

In many ways, the incident heightened the American public’s conversation about the conflict and whether or not the U.S. government should maintain any involvement in the area. Regardless of political viewpoints, the tragedy was a reminder of the impact conflict can have on innocent and uninvolved people in the region.

“I think the whole situation is really troubling and perfectly demonstrates the violent effect that extreme actions like these have on regular people,” Shreya Sunkara (11) said.

In a statement to the press on July 18, President Barack Obama called the crash “a global tragedy” and informed the public about the start of an ongoing investigation by the U.N. Security Council.

Malaysia Airlines has since retired flight number 17 in favor of MH19, the flight plan of which has been rerouted around Ukrainian airspace and travels over southern Turkey.

This article was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on August 29, 2014.