Video Shows Ukrainian Airliner Being Hit Over Iran

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

Video verified by The New York Times appears to show an Iranian missile hitting a plane above Parand, near Tehran’s airport, the area where a Ukrainian airliner stopped transmitting its signal before it crashed on Wednesday.

A small explosion occurred when a missile hit the plane, but the plane did not explode, the video showed. The jet continued flying for several minutes and turned back toward the airport, The Times has determined. The plane flew toward the airport ablaze before it exploded and crashed quickly, other videos verified by The Times showed.

This is a developing story. Check back for a detailed breakdown of the video.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/video/iran-plane-missile.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

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(video embedded in story)

[Girard442]

1. If true, then in a reality where America did not kill Soleimani, those passengers wouldn't be dead.

Some would say it's not f-f-f-f-fair to blame America. It's all the fault of trigger-happy Iranian missile crews. I call bullshit.

[EX500rider]

3. You could also say that if Soleimani hadn't spent most of his time causing mayhem in other countries

....and been the Iranian most responsible for years of attacks on Americans troops and caused the deaths of hundreds of American troops this would not have happened.

[rzemanfl]

6. This was a country that debated the morality of killing Admiral Yamamoto

by ambushing his plane once its route was known. We were at war with Japan at the time. Things have changed I guess, and yes, the possibility the Japanese would figure out their codes were cracked was considered. Still, it was viewed as an assassination a few generations back.

[ZZenith]

10. "Causing mayhem in other countries."

You mean, like “Shock and Awe?”

[EX500rider]

17. US does bad things does not mean Iran does not do bad things.

Head of QUDS Force is not a teacher at a nursery school.

[ZZenith]

19. So you're ok with other countries taking out our generals with drones.

Got it.

[ripcord]

21. I'm okay with taking out terrorists by drone strike

And regardless of being an regardless of being a Iranian general Soliemani was without a doubt a terrorist.

[ZZenith]

22. What the fuck was "Shock and Awe" if not wholesale terrorism?!

[ripcord]

24. It is armed conflict

You might need to get your dictionary out and stop making up your own definitions.

[ZZenith]

25. Actually it was a war crime if you want to be technical about the definition.

Terrorism writ large.

[rickyhall]

12. Would not have killed US soldiers had W not lied us into Iraq Invasion.

[rickyhall]

20. Maybe had we not put the Shaw in there over their elected leader they wouldn't hate us.

Just saying...

[EX500rider]

29. More and more of them miss the Peacock Throne every year compared to the Ayatollahs.

[Yeehah]

32. Is that what your TV told you?

The TV never lies!

[MineralMan]

34. So, you support Trump in his assassination?

Is that what you're saying?

[cstanleytech]

4. Sorry but the ones at fault if it was an Iranian missile is still Iran no matter how you slice it.

[sarisataka]

11. By that logic

Was Iran to blame instead of the US for the shooting down of flight 655 in 1988?

[Girard442]

15. I wouldn't disagree with that. Hostilities between Iran and Iraq created a battlefield situation.

Mix into that the hyperagressiveness and incompetence of the USS Vincennes crew and we have a near-perfect mirror of the current situation.

[enough]

2. Why would they do this? NT

[cstanleytech]

5. Human error most likely. nt

[rzemanfl]

8. I agree, fog of war. Drumpf created the conditions. n/t

[ripcord]

23. The offiicial Iranian stance on accidentally shooting down an airliner is

"No one can make that kind of mistake".

[MySideOfTown]

31. Could have been a Stinger n/t

The missile is 5.0 ft (1.52 m) long and 2.8 in (70 mm) in diameter with 3.9 in (100 mm) fins. The missile itself weighs 22 lb (10.1 kg), while the missile with its launch tube and integral sight, fitted with a gripstock and IFF antenna, weighs approximately 34 lb (15.2 kg). It has an outward targeting range of up to 4,800 m and can engage low altitude enemy threats at up to 3,800 m.

snip..

here are three main variants in use: the Stinger basic, STINGER-Passive Optical Seeker Technique (POST), and STINGER-Reprogrammable Microprocessor (RMP). These correspond to the FIM-92A, FIM-92B, and FIM-92C and later variants respectively.

The POST has a dual-detector seeker: IR and UV. This allows it to distinguish targets from countermeasures much better than the Redeye and FIM-92A, which have IR-only.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIM-92_Stinger

[Archae]

7. Somebody screwed up.

In Iran.

"Oh no! An American bomber! Shoot it down!"

Afterwards: "It was a Ukrainian airliner? Oh shit!"

Remember the old saying about situations like this:
"Don't blame malice when blaming sheer stupidity is more valid."

[sarisataka]

9. This is by far

The best summation of what likely happened.

[Berlin Expat]

33. The most likely scenario

in my opinion, and I'm just speculating here, is that the Iranian air defense network sighted the airliner on their radar and mistook it for, who knows, maybe a B-52 or something and failed to properly identify the target before firing.

That being said, it's also quite likely that air traffic control at Khomeini International Airport might well have failed to notify the air defense network that a civilian airliner was taking off and because the air defense network personnel didn't know this, tragedy ensued. After all, this happened in the middle of a situation where air defense would've been on a hair-trigger and if they didn't know that a civilian plane was about to pop up on their radars, they might well have assumed that the target was an incoming US strike.

It seems like there's plenty of blame to go around, and as happened before, miscommunication - or failure to communicate in a timely manner - can lead to disaster.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. Are there Russian troops (advisors?) in the area?

This could be a bit of pot-stirring.

They've shot down passenger planes in the past. And Ukraine is in their sights.

[brooklynite]

14. Russian troops would have a missile battery in downtown Tehran?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

30. According to Wikipedia, Iran has Russian Buk missiles which are....

the same system that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on 17 July 2014, in eastern Ukraine. Trigger-happy operators may have created another international incident. Russian advisers were likely there and on high alert.

Buk missile system
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buk_missile_system#Operators

It's frightening when one looks through that list of 16 current operators of these Buk SAM systems. It's even more frightening when thinking of the potential for future disasters.

It's a certainty Iran's military was on the highest alert footing at the time of this incident and watching for our bombers and/or fighter jets. There's been a very tense situation there for years and now it's greatly intensified by tRump.

This is the price everyday people are paying for our world being awash with weapons systems of all types.....

[material_highlighter]

16. thought U.S. Intel said yesterday

that it was unlikely Iran shot down the plane and it was a mechanical issue?

which makes me wonder if they (us Intel) were covering for Iran given the possibility of coordination between US government and Iranian government for retaliatory strikes.

US absolutely is culpable in this incident should reporting be true. to claim otherwise is to not accept the fact, that a cow gets slaughtered when you eat a hamburger.

[mitch96]

26. I think it's interesting that "someone" was pointing their camera at the plane just when

it got hit... How did they know??? random shot of a plane in the dark??? Who does that...
m

[ga_girl]

27. According to some reports

There were two separate missiles launched. Maybe the videographer saw the first and started to film?

[material_highlighter]

28. that's my hunch.