Iran Identifies Air Defense Operator's Error as Cause of Ukrainian Boeing Crash

The Iranian Civil Aviation Organization has stated in a final report that the cause of the crash of a Ukrainian plane near Tehran in January 2020 was the error of the air defense system's operator. This was reported by Reuters, citing the document.

“The aircraft was identified as an enemy target due to the air defense operator's mistake, and two missiles were fired in its direction,” the agency quotes part of the report.

The flight PS752 of Ukraine International Airlines from Tehran to Kyiv (Boeing 737-800) crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran Airport on January 8, 2020. A total of 176 people were killed, including citizens of Iran, Ukraine, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Afghanistan. Iranian forces announced on January 11, 2020, that the Ukrainian Boeing was accidentally shot down due to human error, as the aircraft flew near a military site in Iran and was misidentified as a “hostile target.”