How many people remember that in July 1988, the United Sates military shot down an Iranian Airbus A300 civilian flight en route from Bandar Abbas, in Iran, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Like most modern aircraft, the Iranian airliner was equipped with an aircraft identification transponder, a modern form of the old “identification, friend or foe” (IFF) system of World War II. When interrogated by a radar signal from a potential adversary, the transponder “squawks” (gives off a specific response signal) in a pre-specified, fixed mode. After taking off from runway 21, Flight 655 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. The flight registered on the radar screen of the navy warship USS Vincennes which was patrolling the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy officers on the bridge identified the approaching aircraft as an Iranian Air Force F-14 Tomcat. Though they would later claim that they tried to reach the aircraft on military and civilian frequencies, they failed to try air traffic control, which would have probably cleared the air. Instead, as the aircraft drew nearer, the Americans fired two guided missiles at their target: a civilian Airbus A300B2, killing 290 civilians, including 66 children, en route to Dubai. The record shows that the decision to fire was taken more or less calmly and deliberately on the basis of personal advice passed from junior officers to the senior AAWC, and from the AAWC to the CO–in the face of a stream of contrary evidence from the electronics aboard. 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 printed in The Washington Post, the Legion of Merit was presented to Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Commander Lustig for their performance in the Persian Gulf on 3 July 1988. The citations did not mention the downing of the Iran Air flight at all.
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 03:54:05 +0000
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