‘Human error’: Inside Iran’s report on downing of Ukraine plane

Ukraine and Canada condemn lengthy Iranian report on the shootdown of a passenger aircraft last year that killed 176.

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO) released its final report on Wednesday on the downing of a Ukraine Airlines flight last year that drew swift condemnation from Ukraine and Canada. In the lengthy technical report, the organisation confirmed earlier accounts by Iranian authorities that Flight PS752 was brought down by two missiles and caused by “human error” in operating a surface-to-air defence system. The plane was shot out of the sky by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) air battery on January 8, 2020, when it was on high alert after Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at American military bases in neighbouring Iraq to avenge the assassination of its top general, Qassem Soleimani.