Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024. Photo / AFP
Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024. Photo / AFP
The aircraft was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s southern region of Chechnya, when it diverted and attempted an emergency landing in the Kazakh city of Aktau. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday there were “some early indications” the plane “was brought down by Russian air defense systems”.
In 1983, Korean Airlines Flight 007, charting a path from New York to Alaska to Seoul, was shot down by a Soviet interceptor jet after a navigation system error guided the flight into Soviet airspace. Everyone on the plane – a total of 269 people – was killed. One of the victims was Larry McDonald, a Democratic congressman from Georgia.
A senior State Department official told reporters the Soviet pilot probably mistook the airliner for a surveillance plane in the dark, in a briefing nearly a year after the flight was downed.
The Soviet leadership’s immediate reaction to the tragedy – they initially declined to admit responsibility for shooting down the plane – hampered diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet foreign minister only issued an apology to his South Korean counterpart in 1991, nearly eight years after the incident.
2. Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down by a US Navy warship in 1988
In the final months of the Iran-Iraq War, the guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes was patrolling in the Persian Gulf when its commander reported Islamic Revolutionary Guard gunboats had fired upon a helicopter launched from the Vincennes. In response, the Vincennes entered Iranian territorial waters and skirmished with the Iranian boats.
During the melee, an Iran Air Airbus A300 passenger jet took off from Bandar Abbas International Airport and proceeded on a flight path over the Persian Gulf to Dubai. The US Navy later said the Vincennes mistook the civilian jetliner for an F-14 fighter jet, prompting the Vincennes to fire two surface-to-air missiles at the Iran Air flight, killing all 290 people on board.
Then-US President Ronald Reagan sent the Iranian government a five-paragraph diplomatic note to convey “deep regret” over the incident.
3. Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 was likely shot down in 2001
On October 4, 2001, a plane carrying passengers from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, Russia was shot down over the Black Sea, killing 38 Russians and 40 Israelis on board.
Nearly 10 days after the incident – and after numerous prominent denials, including from Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry – Ukrainian and Russian officials concluded the plane was probably brought down by an anti-aircraft missile. The flight coincided with a joint Ukrainian-Russian military training exercise in Crimea, during which the projectile was fired.
Russian air traffic officials said seconds before the plane crashed, the pilot asked: “Where are we hit?”
In 2003, and later again in 2004, the government of Ukraine agreed to pay 78 families in Israel and Russia $200,000. Ukrainian officials insisted the payments were not an admission of guilt.
4. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014
On July 17, 2014, all 298 passengers and crew members of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were killed when a surface-to-air missile struck the plane over eastern Ukraine. It is the deadliest incident in which a plane was shot down to date.
The plane disintegrated as it hurtled toward the ground, scattering wreckage across a 19-square-mile area.
Debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in a field in Grabovo, Ukraine near the Russian border. Photo / Getty Images
The missile was fired amid hostilities between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists. A Dutch court convicted three people – two Russians and one Ukrainian who held senior roles in the separatist militias – of murder in 2022 for their role in the downing of the flight.
The court determined the missile launch was probably intentional, though it was unclear whether the defendants knew they were firing at a civilian aircraft. Dutch investigators said the defendants may not have “pushed the button themselves” but described them as “closely” involved.
Russian authorities have repeatedly denied responsibility for the incident, describing the Dutch court as politically motivated. Numerous international investigations have concluded that pro-Russian separatists fired the Buk missile system that downed the Malaysia Airlines flight.
5. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in 2020
A Ukrainian airliner was shot down by two anti-aircraft missiles shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 passengers. Iran initially blamed a technical failure for the downing of the flight, but eventually conceded two missiles had struck the plane.
The downing came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. After then-US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of a top Iranian commander, Major General Qasem Soleimani, Tehran retaliated by firing missiles toward Iraq, targeting bases housing US troops. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard struck the Ukrainian airliner just hours after the retaliatory barrage.
A few days after the incident, Iranian officials said people had been arrested in response to the accidental downing of the flight, though no details were offered. Over a year later, in 2021, 10 Iranian officials were indicted in connection with the incident.
