"It is a great tragedy and an unforgivable mistake." Three days after the crash of the Boeing of the company Ukraine Airlines International, departed from Tehran, Iran recognized its responsibility. "Regrettably missiles launched in error have caused the crash of the Ukrainian plane and the death of 176 innocent people," said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
From the Boeing 727 of the Libyan Arab Airline company in 1973 to flight MH17 in 2014, other civil aircraft for about forty years were shot down. Back on these tragic precedents
July 17, 2014, a missile reaches flight MH17
298 people are on board the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, operating the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur route (flight MH17) on July 17, 2014. He was shot down when he flew over eastern Ukraine, near Donetsk. The region is torn apart by armed conflict and controlled by pro-Russian separatists. There are no survivors. International investigators establish in May 2018 that the plane was shot down by a Soviet-designed BUK missile from the 53rd Russian anti-aircraft brigade based in Kursk, in southwest Russia. In June 2019, they announced that they would prosecute three Russians and one Ukrainian for murder, whose trial will begin in March 2020 in the Netherlands. They will likely be tried in absentia.
VIDEO. Crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine: "The bodies fell from the sky like petals"
March 23, 2007, a rocket hits an Ilyushin near Mogadishu
An Ilyushin belonging to a Belarusian airline was hit by a rocket shortly after takeoff from the Somali capital Mogadishu in the grip of the civil war, leaving 11 dead. On March 23, 2007, the aircraft was carrying Belarusian engineers and technicians who had come to repair another plane, hit by a missile two weeks earlier.
October 4, 2001, Tupolev explodes over the Black Sea
Less than 300 kilometers from the Crimean coast, on October 4, 2001, a Tupolev-154 of the Russian company Sibir which provided the Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk link in western Siberia, exploded in mid-flight over the Black Sea. 78 people, mostly Israelis, die. A week later, Kiev recognizes that the disaster was caused by the accidental firing of a Ukrainian missile.
July 3, 1998, two American missiles shoot down an Iranian Airbus
290 people died on July 3, 1998 in the explosion of an Iranian civilian plane. The Airbus A-300 of the national airline Iran Air, operating between Bandar-Abbas and Dubai (United Arab Emirates), was shot down shortly after takeoff. The responsibles ? Two missiles from an American frigate patrolling the Strait of Hormuz. The crew of the USS Vincennes claims to have taken the Airbus for an Iranian fighter animated by hostile intentions. Tehran will get US $ 101.8 million in compensation.
August 31, 1983, 269 dead in the explosion of a South Korean Boeing
On the night of August 31 to Sept 1, 1983, the Korean Air Lines (KAL) South Korean Boeing 747 flew over Sakhalin Island. He was then killed by Soviet hunting, after having deviated from his route. The 269 passengers and crew members are killed. Moscow will not recognize its responsibility until five days later, under international pressure and after a conviction by the United Nations Security Council.
February 21, 1973, the Tripoli-Cairo flight targeted by Israel
The Boeing 727 of the Libyan Arab Airline company operating the Tripoli-Cairo link was above the Sinai desert on February 21, 1973. It was then shot down by Israeli fighter. 108 of the 112 people on board were killed. The Boeing, which had gone astray, was intercepted over the Sinai Peninsula, then occupied by Israel. According to authorities, the plane refused to land.