Malaysia Airlines MH17 Boeing 777 Had 'Clean Bill of Health'

The Boeing 777 passenger jet that was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, had a “clean” maintenance record, Malaysia Airlines said early Friday. “All communication systems on the aircraft were functioning normally,” the airline said in a statement. “The aircraft had a clean bill of health.”

The B777-200 aircraft, registration 9M-MRD, was manufactured in July 1997 and had 17 years in service. It underwent a maintenance check on July 11 and was due for another check on August 27, according to the airline. It had a seat capacity of 282, and all but two seats were occupied when MH17 – flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur - was shot down from the sky over eastern Ukraine on Thursday.