Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
Iranian authorities admitted on Saturday that Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was shot down by one of its missiles, revising former claims of a mechanical issue. The aircraft, en route to Kyiv from Tehran, crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran Airport, with Iran claiming it had strayed too close to a Revolutionary Guard base.
Advertisement
Authorities blamed increasing tensions between the Islamic republic and the US in the days leading up to the shoot down as one of the main reasons for the crash. Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, placed the blame squarely on the US for the accidental discharge, citing "US adventurism."
Tensions between the two countries escalated following the drone assassination of Qassem Soleimani, one of the country's top generals, in Baghdad, Iraq.
It's not the first time that geopolitical tensions contributed to accidental shootdowns, here's a list of other times civilian airliners have been shot down by mistake.
A Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok was shot down by the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China in 1954, killing nine passengers.
The communist Chinese government believed the aircraft to be a Kuomintang military aircraft en route to attack Hainan Island, according to archived reporting from the time. China took responsibility for the accident with the country's vice-minister for foreign sending an apology letter to the British government.
Nine survived the aircraft's forced crash landing with the US Navy even aiding the search and rescue effort, shooting down two Chinese fighter planes in the process after they were attacked.
In one of the first shoot downs of a commercial airliner over Europe, a Lockheed Constellation of El Al Israel Airlines was downed in 1955 when it strayed into Bulgarian airspace.
The aircraft was flying home to Israel from London via Vienna and Istanbul when a navigational error sent it into Bulgarian airspace, Haaretz reported. The communist country responded with interceptors that shot down the aircraft.
All 58 souls on board were killed in the crash, with Bulgaria eventually taking responsibility and paying compensation in the amount of $8,236 per person. While El Al is seen as a top target for terrorists since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the shootdown was seen as accidental, with Bulgaria issuing an apology.
Korean Air Lines flight 007 was shot down by the Soviet Union in 1983 when the Boeing 747 mistakenly entered its airspace.
All 269 passengers were killed, CNN wrote, on the flight that had originated at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Seoul's Gimpo International Airport via Anchorage. Soviet officials claimed they believed the aircraft to be an American spy plane, The Week reported, that looked similar to the Korean Air aircraft.
It was the second time that a Korean Air aircraft was fired upon by Soviet forces, the first time being in 1978, the New York Times reported, on a flight from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage and Tokyo that also strayed into USSR airspace. The pilot, who cited an error in the aircraft's navigational system for the accidental incursion, was able to land deep within the communist country, saving the lives of almost everyone on board.
In an incident that involved the US military and an Iranian commercial airliner, an Iran Air Airbus A300 was shot down by a US Navy ship patrolling the Persian Gulf.
After admitting its error, the US government paid compensation to the victims in a multi-million-dollar settlement.
Shortly after the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down as it was flying over the region en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.
All onboard the aircraft were killed in the shootdown, which hasn't yet been declared an accident, though a trial is pending for suspects. The shootdown was reported to have links to President Vladimir Putin's government as communications intercepts showed heightened call volumes between the government and the pro-Russia separatists.
The airline had already been under scrutiny following the disappearance of one of its aircraft, flight MH370, earlier in the year. The Boeing 777 had been flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the Atlantic reported, when it dropped off radar. The full wreckage has never been found.
