Security / Sabotage
Deliberate unlawful interference: a bomb, a hijacking, or an act by someone aboard. The investigation is criminal as well as technical.
Where a deliberate act is suspected, the safety investigation runs alongside a criminal one, and the safety authority may hand the lead to a police or judicial body. That is a common reason a case file's status remains unresolved for years.
Wreckage examination still matters: explosive residue, fracture patterns and the recorders establish what happened even when responsibility is disputed.
Related terms
A civil aircraft was hit by military weapons or damaged in an armed conflict, including misidentification by air defences.
No cause has been established yet. Anything published before the final report is provisional, including the widely repeated early theories.
The investigating authority has published its concluding report, with findings, causes and safety recommendations. This is the authoritative account.