The Iranian Revolutionary Guard accidentally shot down a Ukraine International Airlines airliner shortly after taking off from Tehran airport. Iranian authorities labeled the accident a “tragic mistake” and agreed to investigate in accordance with international aviation law.
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An almost controlled crash-experiment of the B720 at Edwards
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Shooting down a Ukrainian plane. Iran has released some of the black box data
Black box data analysis has been conducted in France since July, and the statement released on Sunday is the first official Iranian government report of the downing of a plane.
The representative of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, Turaj Dehgani-Zanganeh, reported that the recording devices only worked for 19 seconds after the rocket’s first impact. Data from black boxes, including recorded conversations of pilots, indicate that after the impact of the first missile, the passengers were still alive and the crew tried to keep control of the machine until the end. Both missiles hit the plane with an interval of 25 seconds.
– After the first missile hit the plane, there were problems with the electricity. At the instructor’s command, the auxiliary power was turned on. A few seconds after the hit, both aircraft engines were operational. The recording stops after 19 seconds. When the first missile hit, the plane was on the right course, Zanganeh explained.
Ukraine International Airlines plane crash. Responsibility rests with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
A Boeing 737-800 of Ukrainian airlines was hit by a rocket just after taking off from Tehran airport on January 8, 2020. There were 176 people on board, including 82 Iranians. The rest of the passengers were Canadian (57 people) and Ukrainian (2 people). The plane also killed a Swede, an Afghan and an Englishman, as well as a nine-person Ukrainian crew.
The Iranian authorities admitted three days later that they had mistakenly shot down due to human error, most likely on the part of the crew operating the launcher. This is confirmed by the content of the report prepared by the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization.
According to its content, the crew of the Ukraine International Airlines plane did nothing to justify such a reaction from Iran’s air defense. According to information provided by Western intelligence services, Boeing was shot down by a missile from the Russian Tor system.
There are many indications that the error could have caused chaos in the air defense unit belonging to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The commission’s report included information about the lack of communication between the soldiers serving the rocket battery and the command and about an unexpected change of its location.
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