Footage has been released that shows the moment that an Iranian missile shot down a Ukrainian airliner carrying dozens of civilians.
American, Canadian, and British officials said Thursday that the cause of the jet’s crash was a missile fired from Iran in the hours after the country had launched other missiles at bases housing U.S. troops.
Video of the impact shows a plane gaining altitude and then suddenly exploding in a flash of light. The fiery wreckage of the fuselage can be seen coasting toward the ground before dimming.
The airplane is believed to have been shot down by two Russian-made SA-15 surface-to-air missiles. The United States saw Iranian radar lock on to the jet before it fell from the sky. The airliner, a Boeing 737-800, crashed shortly after it took off from Imam Khomeini International Airport. Officials in Iran immediately placed blame on a technical issue and disputed that it was shot down.
Two U.S. officials said the assessment at the Pentagon is that the missile strike was accidental, as Tehran’s anti-aircraft systems were on high alert after the missile strikes on two bases in Iraq.
