[20140728]IN10116_保护民用飞机免受导弹袭击.pdf

CRS InsightsProtecting Civilian Flights from MissilesBart Elias, Specialist in Aviation Policy (beliascrs.loc.gov, 7-7771)July 28, 2014 (IN10116)On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam, the Netherlands,to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, crashed over eastern Ukraine after apparently being struck by a surface-to-air missile. The event has renewed congressional interest in protecting civilian aircraft from missiles, atopic of considerable interest in the context of protection against terrorist threats and risks to aircraftoperated in conflict zones.Consideration of Missile Protection Systems for Civilian AircraftThe State Department has estimated that, since the 1970s, over 40 civilian aircraft have been hit byshoulder fired-missiles, causing 25 crashes and more than 600 deaths. Most of these incidents involvedsmall aircraft operated at low altitudes in areas of ongoing armed conflicts, although some larger jetshave also been destroyed. Notably, on April 6, 1994, an executive jet carrying the Presidents ofRwanda and Burundi was shot down while on approach to Kigali, Rwanda, and on October 10, 1998, aBoeing 727 was destroyed by rebels in the Democrat