Actually his training is that the pilot is responsible for the safety of the plane and everyone on it. So the buck 100% stops with the pilot, if the pilot takes the plane into harm, he/she is 100% responsible for the consequences. Obviously there are extenuating circumstances, the pilot would lose his job if he did not fly the shortest route, however that does not absolve pilot of responsibility. He once was directed by a civilian airfield to execute a landing that was outside of his orders, the correct response is that he refused to comply and was re-routed appropriately.

Mr. H was also familiar with the missile system used, I can't remember what he said, I think it was those missiles are effective to 40,000 ft and the plane was flying at 30,000 ft.

Of course none of that makes it ok to shoot down a civilian airliner. But guess what? The US has done this too, we shot down an Iranian civilian airliner by mistake, thinking it was a military threat. The best answer is not to fly in a conflict zone.