Iran Air Civilian Flight 655 Shootdown by U.S. Navy - U.S. Government & International Documents

Iran Air Civilian Flight 655 Shootdown by U.S. Navy - U.S. Government & International Documents

3,000 pages of documents dealing with Iran Air Flight 655, a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas, that was shot down on 3 July 1988 by an SM-2MR surface-to-air missile fired from the USS Vincennes, a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy.

The Iran/Iraq War began in 1980 when Iraq invaded Iran for the apparent purpose of territorial acquisition. The Tanker War 1986-88 was a campaign of economic attrition and political intimidation during the Iran-Iraq War. Iraq attacked ships serving Iranian ports in an attempt to reduce Iran's oil exports.  Iran responded by mining harbors and attacking the tankers of countries that supported Iraq.

The USS Stark incident occurred during the Iran/Iraq War on 17 May 1987, when an Iraqi jet aircraft fired missiles at the American frigate USS Stark. Thirty-seven United States Navy personnel were killed and 21 were injured.

During the "Tanker War" in the Arabian Gulf,  on 3 July 1988,  the Aegis cruiser USS Vincennes (CG-49) shot down Iran Air flight 655, killing all 274 passengers, including 66 children, and 16 crew members aboard. A series of human errors by U.S. Navy personnel led the commanding officer of Vincennes, Captain William C. Rogers III, to believe he was under attack by an Iranian Air Force F-14 (none were airborne).  Rogers gave the order that resulted in the destruction of the Iranian passenger jet, on a short-scheduled flight on a commercial airway from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

A week later, Iraq launched a major offensive into Iran, with extensive use of chemical weapons. The combination of the two events caused Iranian leadership to conclude that the United States was now actively engaged in the war on the side of Iraq, which then led Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini to accept United Nations Resolution 598 on 20 July 1988, which led to a cease-fire effective 20 August. The sad irony is that the deaths of 290 aboard Flight 655 were a significant factor in ending a bloody eight-year war between Iran and Iraq that had cost the lives of over 500,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians.

In 1996, the governments of the United States and Iran reached a settlement at the International Court of Justice which included the statement "...the United States recognized the aerial incident of 3 July 1988 as a terrible human tragedy and expressed deep regret over the loss of lives caused by the incident..." As part of the settlement, even though the U.S. government did not admit legal liability or formally apologize to Iran, it still agreed to pay $61.8 million on an ex gratia basis, amounting to $213,103.45 per passenger, in compensation to the families of the Iranian victims.


This collection contains

UNITED STATES REPORTS

Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Downing of Iran Air Flight 655 on 3 July 1988 - Rear Admiral William M, Fogarty, USN, Director, Policy and Plans (J-5), U.S. Central Command, was appointed to conduct a formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the downing of a commercial airliner by the USS VINCENNES on 3 July 1988.

Report of the Investigation into The Downing of an Iranian Airliner by the U.S.S. Vincennes Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Armed Services - September 8, 1988 

Iran Air Flight 655 Compensation: Hearings before the Defense Policy Panel of the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, Second Session, hearings held August 3 and 4, September 9, and October 6, 1988

 
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE DOCUMENTS

Iran brought proceedings against the United States on May 17, 1989 for the shootdown of 655. On 22 February 1996 both parties entered into “an agreement in full and final settlement.”

1,032 pages of documents including Testimonial Submitted by the Islamic Republic Of Iran (1990) , Objections Submitted by the United States of America, Observations and Submissions of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the Preliminary Objections, Court Orders, Press Releases and the Settlement Agreement.

 
UNITED NATIONS REPORTS

UN Security Council Transcript July 14, 1988 Debate on Iran Air Flight 655 Bound for Dubai Shot Down by a US Navy Missile Cruiser on 3 July 1988.

 
CIA FILES

23 pages of CIA files, mostly speculating about Iran's possible reactions to the shootdown.

 
FBI FILES

25 pages of FBI files gauging the possibility of retaliation by Iran for Iran Air 655.

 
DEPARTMENT OF STATE FILES

400 pages of Department of State communications covering world reaction and diplomatic issues emerging from the Iran Air 655 tragedy.

 
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE STUDIES

U.S.S. Vincennes (CG 49) Shootdown of Iran Air Flight: A Comprehensive Analysis

U.S.S. Vincennes ( CG 49) Shootdown Of Iran Air Flight #655: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Legal Issues Presented By The Case Concerning The Aerial Incident Of 3 July 1988 (Islamic Republic Of Iran V. United States Of America).
 

Legal Liability to Pay Compensation for the Destruction of Foreign Aircraft for Aerial Intrusions in Peace Time (1989)

The primary focus of this study was on general principles of international law as a source of public international air law, as opposed to private international air law, in determining the status and treatment which must be afforded military and civilian aircraft which enter the airspace of a foreign country without permission from the overflown state. Covers: Soviet Attack on French Airliner, Chinese Attack on British Cathay Pacific Airliner, Bulgarian Attack on Israeli El Al Airliner, Israeli Attack on Libyan Airliner, Soviet Attack on Korean Airlines Airliner (1978),  Soviet Attack on Korean Airline 007 and United States Attack on Iran Air 655.


Systematic Analysis of Complex Dynamic Systems: The Case of the USS Vincennes (1992)

By Kristen Ann Dotterway, Captain, United States Air Force

Abstract: “Recent studies on the Vincennes incident have centered around the impact of stress in decision making. This thesis, which is a case analysis of a historical event, offers another perspective through the use of organizational and contextual factors as a means to ascertain 'what happened' when the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655. Data extracted from the unclassified investigation report by Rear Admiral William M. Fogarty and the transcripts from the Senate Hearing before the Committee on Armed Services were analyzed quantitatively, through regression and correlation analysis in conjunction with a graphical analysis and interpretation, in an effort to resolve the lack of reconciliation between system and recollected data by witnesses.

A comparative analysis was also conducted between these archival sources of data and interview data from Captain Will Rogers, III, former Commanding Officer of the Vincennes. Additionally, to identify "causal factors" that led to the outcome, further analysis using the Events Path Model, Dynamic Systems Model, and Cybernetic Model of Mutual Causality was conducted. The findings of the quantitative analysis portion support Captain Rogers' argument, which included a track number issue and the existence of another aircraft. Among the "causal factors" identified contributing to the accidental shoot down, the most significant finding revealed was the failure to identify and differentiate between two aircraft, which was primarily due to the functional lack of negative feedback as a control mechanism that keeps a system stable and under control.”

 
CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering. Volume 21, Number 9, September 2008 Article - Hazardous Software Development (2008)

This article explores past safety-critical systems failures in hazardous situations, the Union Carbide accident in Bhopal, the Patriot Missile Defense System failure, the Iran Air Flight 655 shoot-down, and Therac-25 system malfunctions, and how methods such as closed-loop corrective actions can help prevent future problems.

 
Better Lucky Than Good: Operation Earnest Will as Gunboat Diplomacy (2007)

By Stephen Andrew Kelley, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

ABSTRACT: In 1987 the United States agreed to register eleven Kuwaiti oil tankers under the American flag and provide them naval protection at the height of the Iran – Iraq War. Motivated primarily by Cold War considerations, the United States embarked on a policy of “neutral intervention” whose intended effects were certain to be disadvantageous to Iran. American planners failed to adequately anticipate Iranian reaction to the American policy, which led to a number of violent naval actions and American retaliatory strikes on Iranian oil facilities. Nevertheless, by April 1988, the United States had largely achieved its declared objectives, which were to secure the safe transit of Kuwaiti oil through the Gulf, and forestall the expansion of Soviet influence in the region. On April 29, 1988, however, the United States expanded the scope of the protection scheme, extending the U.S. Navy’s protective umbrella to all neutral shipping in the Persian Gulf. This decision divorced the American policy from its original limited objectives, increased the likelihood of further confrontation with Iran, and laid the groundwork for the destruction of an Iranian airliner by USS Vincennes.

Other reports include:
 
The Effects of Stress on Judgement and Decision Making: An Overview and Arguments for a New Approach (1995)

Challenges for the Operational Leader Integrating Civil and Military Air Traffic During Operations Other Than War (1998)

Some Tactical Mistakes Have Theater-Strategic Consequences (2007)