Thread

Twitter morons are comparing the shooting down of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 to the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655.

As always, Twitter morons have no idea what they're talking about.

The Iranians shot down Flight 752 when there was no other air activity in the vicinity.

Six other airliners had flown the same route over the three and a half hours between the Iranians firing missiles into Iraq and the Iranians shooting down the airliner.

There's was absolutely no way that the Iranians could have mistaken Flight 752 for a military aircraft.

Flight 752 was on a PUBLISHED IRANIAN CIVILIAN FLIGHT CORRIDOR, and it was broadcasting a four-digit civilian code.

There was no other aircraft in the vicinity.

The US shot down Flight 655 IN THE MIDDLE OF A NAVAL BATTLE.

The USS Vincennes had just engaged three Iranian speedboats with the 5-inch gun, firing over 100 rounds and sinking two of the craft.

THERE WERE THREE IRANIAN F-14 TOMCATS IN THE AREA.

A helicopter from the USS Vincennes had come under fire from the speedboats, and we didn't know the capabilities of the F-14s.

THE IRANIANS NEVER TOLD AIR IRAN THAT THEY WERE ENGAGING THE AMERICANS IN COMBAT.

Flight 655 was 27 minutes late and was flying slightly off center of its published corridor.

When Flight 655 took off, the USS Vincennes radar operator picked up a "Mode II" or military code from one of the F-14s.

IT'S NOT KNOWN WHERE THE F-14 WAS AT THE TIME.

And GUESS WHAT?

The Iranian Air Force broadcasts both MILITARY AND CIVILIAN CODES FOR THEIR AIRCRAFT.

So when an aircraft is Mode III, you don't know if it's military or civilian.

The USS Vincennes anti-air coordinator checked the flight schedules.

Flight 655 was 27 minutes late, and Bandar Abbas Airport is dual military and civilian use.

So we were in the middle of a naval battle, we knew that there were Iranian military aircraft in the area, the Iranians use both civilian and military codes for their military aircraft, there was not a scheduled flight, and the aircraft took off from a military airport.

AND THE IRANIANS NEVER WARNED FLIGHT 655 THAT THEY WERE ENGAGING IN COMBAT WITH THE AMERICANS.

The anti-air coordinator told Captain Rogers that an F-14 fighter was incoming.

At that moment, the 5-inch gun jammed, after firing over 100 rounds.

Commander David Carlson of the USS Sides (FFG-14) issued verbal radio warnings to Flight 655 and got no reaction.

He "painted" Flight 655 with antimissile radar and got no reaction either, so he assumed it was a civilian aircraft.

Military aircraft have radar warning receivers. Since Flight 655 continued climbing, Carlson relaxed and thought that Vincennes would do what he did and see that it was a civilian airliner.

Captain Rogers issued several radio warnings and got no response.

Rogers asked for a status report on the computer-generated tracking number and was told that the aircraft was descending toward him at 450 knots.

The computer--which was BEING USED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN COMBAT--mistakenly assigned the number to a US Navy aircraft.

The navy aircraft WAS descending.

Buth Vincennes was operating in a VERY congested area, and the Iranians were playing games with identification codes.

The Aegis Combat System--the computer--was the "latest and greatest" in American automated fire-control systems.

The TOR-1 that the Iranians used to shoot down Flight 752 dates back to the Soviet era. It's tried and true.

And the Iranians weren't involved in combat.

So in the middle of this naval engagement, the captain and crew of the Vincennes thought that the ASCENDING Flight 655 was an F-14 on a "descending attack vector."

In September of 1987, the US Navy had notified ALL GULF NATIONS that their airliners must monitor all international air distress and military air distress frequencies.

Captain Rogers radioed Flight 655 TEN TIMES.

Did the Iranians radio Flight 752 even once?

So Rogers ordered two missiles fired.

Flight 655 was shot down, and all aboard were killed.

The US paid the victims' families $132 million.

And. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/07/06/reagan-apologized-to-iran-for-downing-of-jetliner/9523c6dc-a244-4b3b-90e9-054168d98c79/

The Aegis Combat System reuses tracking numbers. Operators are required to pay strict attention.

In the middle of a naval engagement in a very congested body of water, the Vincennes crew didn't missed it when the system reused the tracking number.

The system is designed to track ONLY COMBAT AIRCRAFT.

So the computer took the tracking number OFF of Flight 655 and reassigned it to a RETURNING US Navy aircraft.

This happened so quickly that the Vincennes crew didn't catch it.

Finally, the Vincennes had observed an Iranian P-3 Orion in the area, performing what appeared to be targeting operations.

The Iranians never told us what the crew of Flight 655 heard.

All we know is that two American ships issued 13 radio warnings in total, on both military and civilian frequencies, and nobody responded.

There are absolutely no similarities between the American downing of Flight 655 and the Iranian downing of Flight 752.

The surface battle was taking place because the Iranians were attacking civilian oil tankers, US military aircraft, and US military vessels.

When anybody brings up Flight 655, link them to this thread.

If the Iranians radioed warnings to Flight 752, I'll eat my house.

END