KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abd Rahman found himself overcome with emotion as he stepped inside the meticulously reconstructed cockpit of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, the very spot where the plane was believed to have been hit by a missile.
"The ladies were crying because, you know, you are in the real cockpit (of MH17).
"In my mind, I was thinking, how can somebody do this to our aircraft?
"To me, an aircraft is a beautiful thing, to imagine such a beautiful thing crashing...
"Why? Why did it happen to us? What really happened? You have all those questions," said the former Civil Aviation Department director-general.
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The cockpit section was rebuilt by investigators at an army camp in Amsterdam using 8,000 fragments recovered from the crash site in eastern Ukraine.
An estimated 800 pieces of shrapnel had torn through the cockpit area, leaving the rest of the plane to glide for another minute and a half before breaking up and crashing to the ground.
"The aircraft had enough fuel to reach Kuala Lumpur, and the engines were running, so it continued to glide without the nose before the structure finally broke up... the passengers just fell out one by one before the plane hit the ground.
"Since it was still filled with fuel, the wreckage exploded (upon impact)."
He said that the location where the cockpit section was found and the final crash site were about 9km apart.
Datuk Mohd Rafique Ramli Ariffin, who was part of the MH17 Annex 13 Dutch-led investigation team, said they studied multiple scenarios that could explain the cause behind the downing of MH17.
The team, comprising seven state members, including Ukraine and Russia, agreed on the type of missile used to shoot down the plane, as well as the point of explosion.
"There are four microphones in the cockpit: one on the far left for the captain, one in the middle, one on the far right, and one on top of them.
"The one on top was malfunctioning, but the investigators were able to break the sounds from all microphones into microseconds that allowed them to know that the missile hit on the left side of the cockpit because that microphone was the first to capture the sound of the explosion.
"So based on that and the pattern of the shrapnel penetrations, we know that the missile exploded about 4m on the left side — 4m above the aircraft."
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Rafique said shrapnel that resembled a bowtie provided confirmation on the type of missile that hit the plane.
"They gathered the shrapnel from the remains of the captain and co-pilot, and also the other captain who was resting on the bunk.
"I held the shrapnel. Its weight had reduced upon contact with glass and the aircraft frame."
He said the Russians claimed that they no longer used missile warheads with such shrapnel and blamed it on the Ukrainians instead.
Rafique said the only contention between the investigators was the missile's origin.
"Looking at the shrapnel pattern on our airplane, we all agreed on the point where the missile exploded.
"However, there was contention between the Dutch Safety Board and the Russian-accredited representative on the missile projection's origin.
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"The Russians said it came from the front towards the impact point, which means it was shot from areas controlled by the Ukrainians.
"So the investigators reconstructed the front part of the airplane, and we had the opportunity to walk inside while the experts investigated further.
"But in the end, they all agreed to disagree, and of course the Dutch Safety Board would have the final say since it is the leading agency."
Rafique said according to Annex 13 protocol, the lead agency was required to supplement the primary report with the report of any participant members who disagrees, which the Dutch didn't do, leading to the Russian dispute.
However, the MH17 Annex 13 investigation report was focused on safety recommendations to prevent the tragedy from recurring.
"The Joint Investigation Team will, on the other hand, conduct the criminal investigation, but of course, they will use our findings to assist their investigation."