On 16 March 2015, Ban Ki-moon appointed a Panel of Experts, headed by Mohamed Chande Othman, Chief Justice of Tanzania. The other panellists were Kerryn Macaulay, Australia’s Representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation (ICAO), and Henrik Ejrup Larsen, a ballistics expert at the National Center of Forensic Services in the Danish National Police. Its report concluded that there was information to warrant further inquiry into a possible aerial attack or other interference as a cause of the crash. It also introduced new areas to investigate, such as the possibility that radio communications were intercepted.
On 2 July 2015, Ban Ki-moon circulated the report among member states, summarising the findings of the Panel and expressed the view that “a further inquiry or investigation would be necessary to finally establish the facts.” He urged member states “to disclose, declassify or otherwise allow privileged access to information that they may have in their possession”. He also proposed setting up a central archive of documentation that would enable access by the UN and other authorised parties to ensure their continued and enhanced preservation and access.