Auckland aviation expert Irene King says the "thugs" who shot down the Malaysian airliner will never get away with claiming they thought their target was military.

A Western Australia family is mourning the cruel loss of three children who were travelling with their grandfather on the doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Tensions are ramping up between two global super powers after a Malaysia Airlines passenger flight was shot down over Ukraine.

Scenes of horror, with crumpled corpses and body parts strewn amid the smouldering wreckage, greeted local villagers and pro-Russian rebels who were first on the crash site.

A Malaysia Airlines flight attendant who flew to Auckland a fortnight ago is among those on board the Boeing 777 airliner shot down in Ukraine early yesterday NZ time.

Russia may be forced to take direct or indirect responsibility for loss of all aboard the Malaysian flight

Investor sentiment was hit across the globe by rising geopolitical tension following the downing of a Malaysian airliner and the start of an Israeli offensive into Gaza.

Travel agents have fielded calls from worried passengers due to fly to Europe as airlines around the world avoid Ukrainian airspace.

"We have every expectation our son will be getting off a plane in Wellington tomorrow," says Wendy Ayley, mother of Otaki man Robert Ayley, who was on flight MH17.

If history is anything to go by, the downing of Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine could trigger a dangerous chain reaction.

A New Zealand woman has been confirmed as being among the victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash. Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully confirmed the death and said another person, a British citizen who had been living in New Zealand, was also killed. The New Zealand woman, a longtime resident of Australia, was travelling with her husband, a Dutch citizen."Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those involved," says Foreign Minister Murray McCully.

Airlines were warned in April to avoid airspace over Ukraine, but experts suggest they preferred to save money on fuel.

Gold futures posted the biggest gain in four weeks after Ukraine said rebels shot down a Malaysian jet carrying 295 people near its border with Russia. Palladium extended a rally to a 13-year high.

The wife of a New Zealander who was on board MH370 says she was "absolutely floored" when she heard another Malaysia Airlines flight had ended in tragedy.

Airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa and KLM has said they will avoid flying over eastern Ukraine after the crash of a Malaysian Airlines jet.

Everything you need to know about Malaysian Airlines MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine.

A deleted social media post by a separatist militia leader has led to accusations that pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine are to blame for the Malaysia Airlines crash.

We have live updates from the investigation into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines MH17.

Soviet-built BUK surface-to-air missile launcher believed to have brought down Air Malaysia flight at 33,000ft.

The deaths of 295 people aboard Flight MH17 is one of the worst post-war civilian airline incidents involving a plane brought down by a missile attack, gunfire or terrorist-related sabotage.

The 100-day search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has not yet explored the area most likely to be the final resting place of the plane because it was diverted by bogus "black box" signals, according to Inmarsat, the British satellite firm.

The former chief executive of ill-fated Kiwi Airlines says the disappearance of MH370 wasn’t an accident.

The wife of missing Kiwi Paul Weeks is supporting a crowd-funding campaign to reward whistleblower information with $3.22 million cash.

A British woman sailing near Indonesia at the time MH370 vanished says she saw a plane 'burning' and billowing smoke before it crashed.

For a moment when Danica Weeks wakes up, she thinks the last seven weeks have all been a bad dream.

A new report says the missing Malaysia Airlines plane was 'thrown around like a fighter jet' - flying drastic manoeuvres in a bid to dodge radar.

A Chinese ship has detected a "pulse signal" in the southern Indian Ocean where Malaysia Airlines 370 is lost.

Malaysia's Government is deliberately concealing information that would help explain what happened to missing flight MH370, the country's Opposition Leader has claimed.

Sir Peter Jackson's personal jet is helping to relay messages between various military aircraft searching for the missing Malaysia Airline passenger plane, the Royal New Zealand Air Force says.

The Malaysian authorities have insisted that "someone on the plane" was responsible for the disappearance of Flight MH370.