AI flight wasn't near the spot where MH17 was shot down

The aviation ministry on Friday denied that the Air India flight 113 was anywhere near the place where the Malaysian Airlines passenger aircraft MH17 was shot down.

The aviation ministry on Friday denied that the Air India flight 113 was anywhere near the place where the Malaysian Airlines passenger aircraft MH17 was shot down.

All 298 people on board Flight MH17 were killed.

Reports earlier said that the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner was flying over the East European airspace when the Malaysian Airlines passenger aircraft carrying 298 people was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

Sources said that the AI aircraft would have been over the Russian-Ukraine airspace at the time when MH17 was shot down adding that the AI flight could have been just 25-30 kms away from the spot where the Malaysian airliner was shot down. "Considering that MH17 wasn't the intended target of the strike, we should be grateful to God for any aircraft could have been mistook for real target," an AI official said. A Singapore Airlines aircraft is also reported to have been in the same area at the time of the incident.

"It was an uneventful flight. The crew wasn't aware of the MH17 incident till it landed in Birmingham," another AI official said. "We will following the flight safety directions issued in the aftermath of the tragic incident and will avoid the airspace over war-torn eastern Ukraine. Safety of passengers remains our topmost priority," he added.