THE best we can hope for following the airline tragedy in Ukraine is an independent and thorough investigation to take place into what happened and exactly who was responsible.

All any of us can do is say what we think happened from the evidence available to us. Human conflict means that sides are taken, largely based on who we think are the villains.

It is not an unprecedented occurrence. I think of the Iranian airliner taking pilgrims to Mecca and the Korean flight to Anchorage in Alaska and I am not optimistic about a justifiable outcome.

The last thing we should want is the totally isolation of Russia as advocated by John Merry (HAS, July 21). The best hope for peace is to have the lines of communication open. That prevented the Cold War becoming a nuclear war following the Cuban missile crisis.

This loss of innocent life touching all of us who have families who travel has removed our attention from the conflict in Gaza. I fear that the plight of ordinary Palestinians shows no signs of abating.

Geoffrey Bulmer, Billingham.

IF anything positive has come out of the appalling, nonsensical tragedy of Flight MH17 it has to be the compassion shown by fellow football supporters, no matter whom they support, for the Newcastle United fans who died.

This is proven by the fantastic show of solidarity from the club’s fierce rivals: the show of respect and the raising of donations from Sunderland fans can only be described as humbling.

What a humanitarian example from the sport in the North East to the world.

If only Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, David Cameron and all the world’s leaders could take a leaf out of this book and get around the table, putting any differences aside and looking forward to tomorrow.

The world’s future could and should be bright. It takes a brave person to admit that they are wrong. The US, Russia and China are all so called superpowers – “bullies”, as they were known when I went to school – and so need to shake hands and forgive. Stop this killing of God’s own children.

We must never forget this world is a wonderful place. God, Mohammed, Allah or whoever was the creator, and we have no right to destroy it.

John Cumberland, Rushyford.

IF whoever shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 requires any advice on how to deal with these matters, perhaps they should ask the US.

In 1988 the USS Vincennes shot down a civilian airliner, an Iran Airbus A300, over The Strait of Homuz killing 290 passengers and crew.

The captain of the Vincennes, Will Rogers, claimed that he mistook the plane for a diving enemy fighter, although the Italian Navy and his colleagues claimed the plane was in the process of climbing.

Whatever the truth, Capt Rogers was never arraigned before a tribunal or court martial to answer for his actions and, in fact, in 1990 was awarded the Legion of Merit Award. The citation mentions his command of the USS Vincennes but not the downing of the Iranian Airbus.

V J Connor, Bishop Auckland