[Uncle Chip]

why the Boeing 777, with 298 people on board, was allowed to fly over a war zone

The question should be:

why was Russia arming insurgents along an international commercial flight route that included Russia itself with SAMs capable of taking down commercial jets.

[DTA]

The question should be - why Kiev Junta fired up SAM battery radar just before MH17 arrived on rescheduled route overhead.

Both Pentagon and Junta admitted rebels do not have operational SAM able to shoot down airliners at 33000ft.

I know, hard question for Saturday afternoon.