Whichever way it is looked at, the inevitable conclusion must be, it was an accidental shooting of a civilian airliner.
Three comments:
1. Inevitable conclusion? That requires certainty on a lot of variables. That certainty does not exist.
2. Accidental? Maybe. Maybe not. At present, motives are unknown
3. The most damning part of this event are the denials and the cover ups that followed. And continue to this day. If it truly was an accident just fess up and get it over with. That's what the Vincennes crew did.