Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 broke up over Ukraine due to being hit by “a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside”, according to a preliminary report into the crash in July.
The report from the Dutch Safety Board concluded there was “no evidence of technical or human error”.
Flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and carrying 298 people when it is believed to have been shot down, reportedly by pro-Russia rebels, over Ukraine in July.
The Dutch investigators based their findings on information gained from the aircraft's black box flight data recorder as well as air traffic control reports, satellite images and photos from the scene.
The report found the black box recording from the cockpit ended abruptly with no sign of alarm.
"No aural warnings or alerts of aircraft system malfunctions were heard on the cockpit voice recording, which ended at 13.20:03 hrs," the report said. "Crew communication gave no indication that there was anything abnormal with the flight."
The report represents the first official findings into the crash. It does not attribute blame; a separate criminal investigation is being conducted by prosecutors in The Hague.
The safety board said in a statement: "The preliminary report presents factual information based on the sources available to the DSB. In the months to come, further investigation is needed before the final report can be written."
The safety board said it expects the final report on MH17 to be published within a year.