New Delhi: Aviation accidents can happen for many unfortunate reasons and they have taken place in the past and present due to a fault in the system or other damages. But what do we say when a plane is intentionally shot down, killing more than a hundred innocent passengers? Even terms like heinous and monstrous would fall short to capture the essence of such an evil act. The journey of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 ended in a somewhat similar fashion on January 8, 2020, a tragedy which shocked the world.
What happened to the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752?
The Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv and the Ukraine International Airlines operated it. On January 8, 2020, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) destroyed the flight. The Iranian military was on high alert as it had attacked US targets just hours earlier in Iraq. The IRGC mistook the plane as a US missile and fired on it, killing all 176 people aboard.
Why did Iran fire at the plane?
At that time, the tension between the United States and Iran was at a great height. In December 2019, an Iraqi militia which the Quds Force of the IRGC supported attacked an Iraqi air base which was hosting US personnel. The US retaliated by conducting air strikes against that militia. The situation reached a tipping point when the US, on January 3, 2020, launched a drone strike which killed Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the militia and the Quds Force’s commander. On January 8 morning, Iranian forces fired ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq training US-led forces. Iran was expecting that the US would retaliate, and its forces were put on high alert.
The heinous act and the admission
On the fateful day, the plane was carrying 176 people, including 9 crew members and 15 children. The plane took off an hour behind the scheduled time of 6:12 pm. At around three minutes later, two short-range missiles launched 30 seconds apart by the IRGC hit the plane. It crashed just outside Tehran near the Khalaj Abad village and all 176 people on board were killed.
Initially, the officials of the Iranian and Ukrainian governments blamed the crash on the aircraft’s mechanical issues. However, the Ukrainian government later went back on its statement and said anything was possible. On January 11, the IRGC admitted that it fired missiles at the plane after mistaking it for a US cruise missile.
On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), killing all 176 person onboard. Initially, Iranian officials blamed mechanical failure, but later admitted the plane was mistakenly targeted amid heightened US-Iran tensions. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
