Originally Posted by
andrasz
One lingering question remains, and hopefully the investigaton will shed some light on this. There appears to be a gap between the last transponder position and the postion of the missile strike. This may of course be easily explained by the known granularity of FR24 data, but in theory it COULD indicate a loss of transponder signal, which under the stressed conditions could have triggered the events.
It seems this is not a factor - the Iranians are not even attempting to use it as an excuse. According to the report in
The Guardian (
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nintentionally)'
The plane was mistaken for a hostile target after it turned towards a sensitive military centre of the Revolutionary Guards, according to the military statement, carried on the official IRNA news agency.
“The military was at its highest level of readiness” amid the heightened tensions with the US, it said, adding: “In such a condition, because of human error and in an unintentional way, the flight was hit.”
The military apologised for the disaster and said it would upgrade its systems to prevent such mistakes in the future. The responsible parties would be referred to a judicial department within the military and held accountable, it said.'
This suggests that both training and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's missile systems/communications were to blame. FR24 tracking (such as it is) shows the flight was on its normal flight path leaving Imam Khomeini International Airport, which either means the Iranians located a "
sensitive military centre" near the normal flight path of a major civilian airport, or that that they are being economical with the actualité. You can make your own mind up on that one.