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The Ukrainian Plane that burst into fire and crashed mere moments after takeoff from Tehran was likely shot down by mistake by Iran. Wednesday, Iran vehemently denied such a scenario. Today, they refuse to comment.
Officials said U.S. intelligence increasingly believes that the airliner was accidentally struck by a Russian-made missile, killing all 176 people on board the flight – just hours after Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles targetting (sic) two military bases housing American and coalition troops.
The revelation comes as Ukrainian investigators reportedly are awaiting permission from Iranian authorities Thursday to examine the crash site and look for missile fragments. Iran has denied that a missile took down the Boeing 737 bound for Kiev, and its officials have blamed a technical malfunction for the aircraft’s demise.
“A strike by a missile, possibly a Tor missile system, is among the main (theories), as information has surfaced on the internet about elements of a missile being found near the site of the crash,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, told Ukrainian media.
This particular plane was a Boeing 737-800 manufactured in 2016. It had its scheduled maintenance check on January 6 and, according to Ukraine International Airlines , the crew was highly experienced.
The captain of the crashed plane has been identified as Volodymyr Gaponenko, an experienced pilot with 11,600 hours flying on Boeing 737 aircraft under his belt. The instructor pilot was Oleksiy Naumkin, also experienced with 12,000 hours on the aircraft. Ukraine International Airlines president, Yevhenii Dykhne, said, “It is impossible that there were mistakes by the crew.”
At a press conference in Kiev, he said Tehran airport was “not a simple airport” and the pilots required several years of training to use it.
It comes as no surprise that Iran has refused to allow Boeing or any US representative participate in the investigation. At this time, Iran also refuses to release the black boxes to any other entity that is qualified to conduct such an investigation. Indeed, Iran is now claiming that the boxes were “damaged with some memory loss”.
How much does this resemble the 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17?
A Buk missile from a Russian military unit brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, a Dutch-led investigation revealed Thursday.
The missile was from the Russian military’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the Russian city of Kursk, Wilbert Paulissen of the Dutch National Police said. Paulissen was speaking at a presentation of interim results of the long-running probe into the downing of MH17.
As recently as September of 2018, Russia was still claiming a grand conspiracy about their responsibility and blames the Ukraine for the downing of MH17.
But don’t think it’s just the Iranians prepared to point fingers elsewhere. California’s former Senator, dumb bunny, and crook, Barbara Boxer, blames … wait for it … TRUMP!
The tragic crash of a civilian aircraft shows everyone in the world how war leads to heart wrenching unintended consequences. We need a president who understands this. Dump Trump 2020. https://t.co/azGQHub3q9
— Barbara Boxer (@BarbaraBoxer) January 9, 2020
Babs isn’t alone …
Trump’s “flying in a tough neighborhood” & “it has nothing to do with us” were typical “who, me?” moves. Did it never occur to him that the plane filled with 176 souls would almost certainly never have been targeted by a trigger-happy Iranian missile but for the assassination?
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) January 9, 2020
This is where we are at. Only yesterday, VG Toni Williams wrote about Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren agreeing to teleconference with pro-Iranian National Iranian American Council. You know, the contemporary version of the German American Bund.
Agree or not with President Trump, his occupying the White House is flushing the traitors and Quislings out into the open.
featured image original art by VG Darleen Click
Mike-in-Keller says: Mistake? Maybe. My odds for it are 60% mistake, 40% temper tantrum.
GWB says: Nah. 100% f*-up.
There’s no gain in shooting down a Ukrainian jet filled mostly with their countrymen and folks not allied with Trump’s supposed sins.
I suppose an individual commander might have stupidly decided to shoot down a “western” aircraft, but it’s MUCH more likely that the command was given to go “weapons free” and someone spooked thinking they saw a US F-35 up there, and WHOOSH! goes their career.
I’m absolutely positive there are at least a couple more prisoners in Evin Prison tonight.
GWB says: You missed the NBC correspondent who also blamed Trump. Of course, she’s “taken down” the tweets because “This tweet is being taken as something I did not intend“. Of course, her fellow twits think it’s been taken exactly as she intended. Maybe someone screen-capped it.
And, in another case of tweet-deletion, the high-IQ Patricia Arquette postulates whether it could be Putin behind the shoot-down, in order to threaten Ukraine. Of course, it flows through Trump to get there, since Putin controls him….
Twitter is good for one thing: confirming my misanthropy – human beings are awful creatures, with some exceptions (like you ladies here). Please, folks, prove me wrong.
steve walsh says: Calling it a “mistake” or an error is a fig leaf to Iran. Here’s hoping they take it.
Joe in PNG says: Fear bite by undertrained SAM operator/ controller is my WAG.
James Raclawski says: average conscript in service to the regime…. been a real gut wrencher of a couple days…. 100% alert… comm-link announces… BOGIE INBOUND
NO IFF…..
you space out–then spazz-out… launched your SAM… you watch it thru It’s initial phase.. ka-boom…
now even though you wiped out 170-odd innocent souls… is a hit still go on your evaluation as a good thing ??? or should you be clearing out you locker?
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