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 22nd 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 4th
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.
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