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Iran Air Flight 655 ('''IR655''') was a commercial flight operated by Iran Air that flew from Tehran to Bandar Abbas to Dubai . On July 3 , 1988 , the flight was shot down by the guided missile cruiser USS ''Vincennes'' between Bandar Abbas and Dubai, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard, including 38 non- Iran ians. The plane, an Airbus A300B2 , registered as EP-IBU and flown by captain Mohsen Rezaian , left Bandar Abbas at 10:17 am Iran time (UTC+0330), 27 minutes after its scheduled departure time of 9:50 am. It would have been a 28-minute flight. After the take off, it was directed by the Bandar Abbas tower to turn on its transponder and proceed over the Persian Gulf. The flight was assigned routinely to commercial air corridor Amber 59, a twenty-mile-wide lane on a direct line to Dubai airport. Owing to the short distance, the flight pattern would be a simple trajectory - climbing out to an altitude of 14,000 feet, cruising for a short time, and then descending gradually into Dubai. At that same time, the '' USS Vincennes ,'' under the command of Captain William C. Rogers III and fitted with the AEGIS Combat System , was nearby in the Strait Of Hormuz . The '' Vincennes '' had been rushed to the area after the April 14 Mining of the USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'' by Iranian forces. ''Roberts'' had been operating in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will , the effort to protect Kuwaiti Oil Tankers during the Iran-Iraq War . On the morning of July 3, the ''Vincennes'' crossed into Iranian territorial waters during clashes with Iranian Gunboat s. The USS ''Sides'' (FFG-14) and USS ''Elmer Montgomery'' (FF-1082) were nearby. What happened thereafter is still subject to debate. U.S. GOVERNMENT SOURCES According to U.S. government accounts, the ''Vincennes'' mistakenly identified the Iranian airplane as an attacking military fighter. The officers identified the flight profile being flown by the A300B2 as being similar to that of an Iranian Air Force s away, the ''Vincennes'' fired two SM-2ER antiaircraft missiles. The first missile broke the aircraft in two and damaged the tailplane and right wing. After the engagement, the ''Vincennes'' This version was finalized in a report by Admiral William Fogarty , entitled ''Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Downing of Iran Air Flight 655 on 3 July 1988 ''.1 This report is so far only partially released (part I in 1988, part II in 1993), a fact criticized by many observers. The unclassified version of a Congressional report of a U.S. Navy investigation headed by Admiral William Fogarty did not accurately show the location of the USS ''Vincennes'' inside Iranian territorial waters. "The disaster of the USS ''Vincennes'' shooting down an Iranian passenger airliner in the Gulf War could be partially ascribed to the Aegis system introducing an Expectancy Bias and not assisting users to correct the impression formed. The design as well as the unhelpful user interface of the Aegis system contributed to errors of judgement."2 INDEPENDENT SOURCES John Barry and Roger Charles, of '' Newsweek '', wrote that Commander Rogers acted recklessly and without due care. Their report further accused the U.S. government of a cover-up.3 An analysis of the events by the International Strategic Studies Association described the deployment of an Aegis cruiser in the zone as irresponsible and felt that the expense of the ship had played a major part in the setting of a low threshold for opening fire.4 On November 6 2003 the International Court Of Justice concluded that the U.S. Navy's actions in the Persian Gulf at the time had been unlawful. Three years after the incident, Admiral William Crowe admitted on Nightline that the ''Vincennes'' was inside Iranian territorial waters at the time of the shoot-down.5 This directly contradicted the official Navy claims of the previous years. Captain David Carlson, commander of the USS ''Sides'' , the warship stationed nearby the Vincennes at the time of the incident, is reported (Fisk, 2005) to have said that the destruction of the aircraft "marked the horrifying climax to Captain Rogers' aggressiveness, first seen four weeks ago" - referring to incidents on June 2, when Rogers had sailed the Vincennes too close to an Iranian frigate undertaking a lawful search of a bulk carrier, launched a helicopter within 2-3 miles (3.2-4.8 km) of an Iranian small craft despite rules of engagement requiring a four-mile (6.4 km) separation, and opened fire on a number of small Iranian military boats. Of those incidents, Carlson commented, "Why do you want an Aegis cruiser out there shooting up boats? It wasn't a smart thing to do." At the time of Rogers' announcement to higher command that he was going to shoot down the plane, Carlson is reported (Fisk, 2005) to have been thunderstruck: "I said to folks around me, 'Why, what the hell is he doing?' I went through the drill again. F-14. He's climbing. By now this damn thing is at 7,000 feet." However, Carlson thought the Vincennes might have more information, and was unaware that Rogers had been wrongly informed that the plane was diving. RADIO FREQUENCIES Throughout its final flight IR655 was in radio contact with various Air Traffic Control services using standard civil aviation frequencies, and had spoken in English to Bandar Abbas Approach Control seconds before the ''Vincennes'' launched its missiles. The ''Vincennes'' at that time had no equipment suitable for monitoring civil aviation frequencies, other than the International Air Distress frequency. Subsequently U.S. Navy warships in the area were equipped with dialable VHF radios, and access to flight plan information was sought, to better track commercial airliners. The official ICAO report stated that attempts to contact Iran Air 655 were sent on the wrong frequency and addressed to a non-existent "Iranian F-14". POSSIBLY RELEVANT FACTORS
Software development expert Steve McConnell wrote: :Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down by the USS ''Vincennes'' MEDALS AWARDED While issuing notes of regret over the loss of human life, the U.S. government has, to date, neither admitted any wrongdoing or responsibility in this tragedy, nor apologized, but continues to blame Iranian hostile actions for the incident. The men of the Vincennes were all awarded combat-action ribbons. Commander Lustig, the air-warfare coordinator, even won the navy's Commendation Medal for "heroic achievement," his "ability to maintain his poise and confidence under fire" having enabled him to "quickly and precisely complete the firing procedure." According to a 23 April 1990 article in '' The Washington Post '', the Legion Of Merit was presented to Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Commander Lustig on 3 July 1988 . The citations did not mention the downing of the Iran Air flight at all. It should be noted that the Legion of Merit is often awarded to high ranking officers on successful completion of especially difficult duty assignments and/or last tours of duty before retirement. The incident continued to overshadow U.S.-Iran Relations for many years. Following the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 six months later, the British and American governments initially blamed the PFLP-GC , a Palestinian militant group backed by Syria , with assumptions of assistance from Iran in retaliation for Iran Air Flight 655.6 The cause of the crash was later determined to be a bomb associated with the Libya n intelligence service, though an Iranian group had claimed responsibility for it. The Flight 655 incident has often been compared to that of Korean Air Flight 007 interception by the Soviet Air Force in 1983 . The then Vice President George H. W. Bush declared a month later, "I will never apologize for the United States of America, ever. I don't care what it has done. I don't care what the facts are."789 COMPENSATION On February 22 , 1996 the United States agreed to pay Iran US$ 61.8 million in compensation ($300,000 per wage-earning victim, $150,000 per non-wage-earner) for the 248 Iranians killed in the shootdown. This was an agreed settlement to discontinue a case brought by Iran in 1989 against the U.S. in the International Court Of Justice .10 The payment of compensation was explicitly characterized by the US as being on an '' Ex Gratia '' basis, and the U.S. denied having any responsibility or liability for the incident. The United States has not compensated Iran for the airplane itself, to date. The aircraft was worth more than $30 million. FICTION '', loosely based the DS9 episode " Rules Of Engagement " on the disaster. SEE ALSO
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REFERENCES #''Nunn Wants to Reopen Inquiry into Vincennes' Gulf Location''. Washington Times, July 4, 1992. Abstract: Senator Sam Nunn called on the Pentagon to probe allegations that the Navy "deliberately misled Congress" about the location of the USS ''Vincennes'' when it shot down an Iranian civilian airliner four years ago. # Fisk, Robert . ''The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East''. London : Fourth Estate, 2005. 318-328. ISBN 184115007X # Marian Nash Leich, "Denial of Liability: Ex Gratia Compensation on a Humanitarian Basis" American Journal of International Law Vol. 83 p. 319 (1989) |
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