Iran admits to shooting down the Ukrainian commercial jet Boeing 737-8KV near Parand in Iran, which killed 176 people on board. Later, after downing the plane with surface to air missile, Iranian officials termed it ‘human error’ on their end.
However, this is not the first time that a plane had brought down this way. There are several shocking incidents in the history of aviation, which saw planes shot down by missiles. Furthermore, the incident is not new for Iran either, as there are a couple of incidents in the past that happened when jets with hundreds of people had brought down with missiles.
Here are some of the incidents of the past:
Iran Air Flight 655, 1998
On July 3, 1998 Iranian flight 665 enroute to Dubai from Tehran was brought down by SM-2MR surface-to-air missile, which was fired from USS Vincennes, a US warship. The US battleship launched a cruise missile after the jet when it took flight from Tehran and was flying over Persian waters under Iranian territory. The jet was destroyed killing all 290 people on board. The US never apologized for the plane crash.
Iranian Air Force C-130, 1994
On March 17, Iranian C-130 was flying from Moscow to Tehran on a diplomatic mission. The plane was transport jet, which was carrying 32 Iranian embassy officials. US forces shot down the aircraft over Nagorno-Karabakh region – a region which was under armed conflict – killing all 32 people travelling on board.
Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114, 1973
Tripoli, Libya, from Benghazi to Cairo was a regular operated route. Libyan Flight 114 on 21 February flew from Tripoli airport and reportedly lost over northern Egypt. The lost flight entered Israeli airspace over Sinai Peninsula, when two F-4 Phantom II jets intercepted the plane. The plane refused to land, afterwards it was shot down. The incident killed 113 passengers, however miraculously five survived including co-pilot.
Itavia Flight 870, 1980
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 was brought down on June 27 near Italian island of Ustica. Later after the investigation, it was revealeved that the plane was shot down by a missile. 81 on board were killed. It was never clear who brought down the jet.
Siberia Airlines Flight 1812, 2001
The flight was shot down by Ukrainian military with an S-200 surface-to-air missile – after the American investigation – the earlier suspicion was the terrorists who shot down the plane. But later it became clear the Ukrainian military was involved. The government later paid $15m in compensation to the families of the crash. All 66 plus 12 crew members died.
