WHY DID THE IRANIANS SHOOT DOWN THE PASSENGER PLANE?

Canadian Prime Minister, Mr.  Justin Trudeau called for a full and thorough investigation into the crash of an Ukraine airliner which killed all 176 people on board. The crash came just hours after Iran carried out two missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq. No-one was killed from those two missiles. The Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 went down just minutes after taking off from Tehran's airport, leaving no survivors.

I strongly doubt that the leader of Iran would have ordered the firing of the two missiles at the plane since the sanctions against Iran would literally bankrupt that nation. It is however conceivable that someone accidentally ordered the two missiles to be fired at the passenger plane believing that it was an America war plane.

CBS News quoted US intelligence sources as saying that a satellite detected infrared "blips" of two missile launches, followed by another blip of an explosion.

That would rule out the two missiles fired at the two American air bases in Iraq.

Iran initially denied that it had any involvement in the downing of the plane.

Western leaders say that initial evidence has suggested that an Iranian missile brought down the Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed near Tehran possibly in error by thinking it was an American war plane. 

On August 22^nd 2019, Iranian TV aired a report about the unveiling of the Iranian-made Bavar 373 long-range air defense system. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who was present at the unveiling, said that the Bavar 373 system is superior to the Russian S-300 system and that it competes with the S-400 system and the American Patriot system. The report said that the Bavar 373 system was designed for Iran's geographical conditions and that it can simultaneously engage six targets with 12 missiles at a range of up to 250 kilometers. Bavar 373's radar system reportedly has a range of 350 kilometers, and can be used "under any weather conditions, and even when the enemy is using chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons even if the heaviest jammers and electronic systems lock on to it." In addition, the report said that Bavar 373 can launch surface-to-air missiles such as the Sayyad-4 to an altitude of 27,000 meters. Iranian Defense Minister Amir Khatami said that Bavar 373 can be used against strategic and tactical fighter jets and bombers, as well as against stealth planes, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and other targets.

When two of those missiles were launched from Iran, the plane was in range since it had just left the airport and hadn’t reached its higher height of 32 thousand  feet. 

This raises an interesting question. Why did the person who ordered the missiles to down the passenger plane thinking that it was an American war plane?

The passenger plane was just leaving the Iranian capital so it could hardly be an American war plane since Iran and the United States were not at war. Further, the very bright light at the front of the plane should have told anyone ahead of the plane that it is a passenger plane. The purpose of the bright light in in all passenger planes day or night is to warn other planes heading toward the plane to move out of the way. War planes don’t have bright lights in the front of their planes when flying for obvious reasons.

Here is a question that needs an answer.  President Trump said that he authorized the killing of Qassem Soleimani because he was an imminent threat. Was the threat the downing of a passenger plane?  No it was about the Iranians  attacking American embassies.

Quite frankly, I find it hard to believe that the firing of the missiles was a mere accident.

Under global aviation rules, Iran has the right to lead the investigation. However, manufacturers are typically involved and experts say few countries are capable of analysing black boxes that shows investigators as to what causes the crashes.

The possible reason for the crash is that it involved a Boeing 737-800 -one of the international airline industry's most widely used aircraft models in which two of the said planes  crashed last year killing all of their passengers  and crew.

At a news conference in Ottawa, Mr. Trudeau said: "We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.” Unquote

CBS News quoted US intelligence sources as saying a satellite detected infrared "blips" of two missile launches, followed by another blip of an explosion.

The question that comes to the fore is, who fired the two missiles?  It wasn’t a terrorist because terrorists have hand held missile launchers that can’t reach thousands feet that the plane was flying at when it was hit. It wouldn’t be Ukraine who ordered the firing of the missiles so that leaves Iran being responsible.

Iranian authorities initially blamed technical issues, but the crash's timing which was just hours after Iran launched missiles at US targets in Iraq provoked speculation about other possible causes of the crash than technical  failure.

Ukraine has withdrawn its previous assurances that mechanical failure was to blame for a plane crash over Iran that killed 176 passengers and crew, with experts warning that a potential "catastrophic" event may have caused the airliner to plummet to the ground. That event was the firing of Iranian missiles  

I strongly doubt that the leader of Iran would have ordered the firing of a missile at the plane since the sanctions against Iran would literally bankrupt that nation. It is however conceivable that someone accidentally ordered the missile to be fired at the passenger plane believing that it was an America war plane.

Irrespective as to why Iranian missiles downed the passenger plane, Iran is going to have to pay billions of dollars in reparations.

My concern is that Iran won’t permit Boeing (the manufacturer of the plane access to the black box.

Meanwhile the UIA has suspended all flights to and from Iran following the crash, while a number of major international carriers are diverting flights away from the region's air space. This disruption, which some airlines have said will continue until further notice, is expected to lengthen many flight times.

Iran Air Flight 655 was a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas that was shot down on 3 July 1988 by an SM-2MR surface-to-air missile fired from USS Vincennes, a guided-missile cruiser of the United States Navy. The aircraft, an Airbus A300, was destroyed and all 290 people on board were killed. The jet was hit while flying over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, along the flight's usual route, shortly after departing Bandar Abbas International Airport, the flight's stopover location. Vincennes had entered Iranian territory after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.

As part of the settlement, even though the U.S. government did not admit legal liability or formally apologize to Iran, it still agreed to pay US $61.8 million on an ex gratia basis in compensation to the families of the Iranian victims.

The Ukrainian military shot down a Russian passenger jet containing 78 people on the 4^th of October 2001 as it flew over the Black Sea travelling from Tel Aviv in Israel to Novosibirsk in Russia. Russian crash investigators concluded the Tu-154 was hit by a Ukrainian ground-to-air missile despite the fact it was on its flight plan on an international airway which did not fall under any restrictions imposed by Ukraine. It exploded in mid-air, sparking speculation it was downed accidentally by Ukranian military on exercises in Crimea.

I have flown in many passenger planes in Canada, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America and in the Caribbean and the Far East. Only once was I in danger. That is when the plane I was in crash landed at the Atlanta airport. Everyone got out of the plane but me. I couldn’t unbuckle my seat belt because of a broken arm. A stewardess ran back into the plane, unbuckled my seat belt and dragged me out of the plane.

UPDATE: January 11--The military said the jet turned towards a sensitive site belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and was then mistaken for a cruise missile.