July 3, 1988

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Martin Antonenko

A Fixture
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
8,994
Collateral damage...


On July 3, 1988, Captain Mohsen Rezaian's "Iran Air" Airbus A300 took off 27 minutes late from Bandar Abbas.



A flight time of 28 minutes is planned for the route to Dubai. After take-off, the aircraft is routinely directed from the tower onto the 20-mile wide airway in the direction of Dubai. The plan was for the machine to climb to 4,300 m, fly briefly at cruising speed and then begin the approach to the airport.

At the same time, the destroyer USS "Vincennes" under the command of William C. Rogers III

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.... and equipped with the then novel Aegis combat system is nearby, in the Strait of Hormuz.



Der Iran hatte SS-N-2 Styx-Raketen von der Volksrepublik China gekauft, und nur Schiffe mit dem Aegis-Kampfsystem konnten dieser Gefahr entgegenwirken. Die Vincennes war in das Gebiet beordert worden, nachdem die USS Samuel B. Roberts von einer iranischen Seemine schwer beschädigt worden war...:


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Das Schiff war zum Zeitpunkt des Flugzeug-Abschusses in ein Gefecht mit iranischen Kanonenbooten verwickelt und befand sich in iranischen Hoheitsgewässern. Einige Stunden früher hatte sie bereits mit den iranischen Booten omanische Hoheitsrechte verletzt, bis sie von einem omanischen Kriegsschiff entdeckt worden war. Die USS Sides und die USS Elmer Montgomery waren ebenfalls in der Nähe.

Der von Iran-Air-Flug 655 als Startpunkt genutzte Flughafen von Bandar Abbas wurde damals sowohl von Zivil- als auch von Militärflugzeugen genutzt.

Der Airbus der "Iran Air" wird nun durch eine automatische Anfrage der "Vincennes" beim Transponder der Linienmaschine als Zivilflugzeug erkannt, jedoch identifiziert das Aegis-Kampfsystem deSchiffes gleichzeitig eine anfliegende F-14 Tomcat der Iranischen Luftwaffe.



Commander Rogers decides to believe the report from the Aegis system!

Seven warnings are now being sent to the Iran Air plane on different military frequencies, but the suspected Tomcat did not respond.

Three contact attempts are made on the civilian emergency radio frequency, whereby the Iranian crew did not feel addressed because they read a different speed in the cockpit than the “unidentified Iranian aircraft” called by the USS Vincennes.

After the Aegis system reports that the suspect aircraft has rapidly descended and "on intercept course", Commander Rogers orders two SM-2 anti-aircraft missiles fired at the aircraft....:

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Both projectiles hit the passenger jet and completely destroy it!

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All 275 passengers, including 66 children, and 15 crew members perish on board.

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wonder what happened to the ships commander


Rogers continued in command of the USS Vincennes until May 27, 1989. In 1990, Capt. Rogers was awarded the Legion of Merit Commendation "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of distinguished service as commander...from April 1987 to May 1989."

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The award was given for his service as Commanding Officer of the Vincennes and, in doing so, for the work that led to the mass murder.

Rogers' next assignment was as commanding officer of the United States Navy Tactical Training Group at Naval Base Point Loma, a group responsible for training officers in handling combat situations. He retired from the United States Navy in August 1991.

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In 1992, Rogers and his wife Sharon...

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... co-wrote a book, "Storm Center": A Personal Account of Tragedy & Terrorism which describes the events surrounding the downing of Iran Air 655 and the minivan bombing from their personal perspectives.

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Nine months after the downing of Iran Air Flight 655, on the morning of March 10, 1989, Rogers' wife Sharon escaped uninjured when a pipe bomb exploded and set fire to her minivan as she sat stopped at a red light across the street from the University Towne Center shopping mall in San Diego...:

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The van was registered in the name of Will Rogers III, and many people at the time of the bombing suspected that terrorism was involved.

Five months later, the Associated Press reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had shifted focus away from terrorism towards the possibility of someone with a personal vendetta against Captain Rogers.

As of 2003, the bombing of Rogers' van remains an unsolved case, despite a major investigation involving at some time up to 300 police and FBI agents.


Cheers
 
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