Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
UR-PSR, the aircraft involved in the incident, in October 2019
Shootdown
Date8 January 2020 (2020-01-08)
SummaryStruck by two surface-to-air missiles (Tor M-1) fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps[1]
SiteShahriar County, Near Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran, Iran[2]
35°33′40″N 51°06′14″E / 35.56111°N 51.10389°E / 35.56111; 51.10389
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-8KV
OperatorUkraine International Airlines
IATA flight No.PS752
ICAO flight No.AUI752
Call signUKRAINE INTERNATIONAL 752
RegistrationUR-PSR
Flight originImam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran, Iran
DestinationBoryspil International Airport, Kyiv, Ukraine
Occupants176
Passengers167
Crew9
Fatalities176[3]
Survivors0

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752/AUI752) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8 January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 flying the route was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shortly after takeoff,[4][5][6] killing all 176 occupants on board.

Missiles were fired at the aircraft by the IRGC amidst heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. The incident occurred five days after the United States carried out the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and some hours after Iran retaliated with Operation Martyr Soleimani, in which the IRGC fired dozens of ballistic missiles on American-led coalition forces; both the assassination and the missile strikes took place in Iraq.[7]

Iranian authorities initially denied having any responsibility for the aircraft's destruction, but investigations by various intelligence agencies from the Western world as well as by the Iranian public later revealed that it had been struck by two surface-to-air missiles. On 11 January 2020, the Government of Iran admitted that the IRGC had targeted Flight 752 after mistakenly identifying it as an American cruise missile.[8] The announcement triggered another wave of Iranian anti-government protests (part of the larger 2019–2020 Iranian protests), calling for the removal of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.[9]

  1. ^ "Iran plane crash: Tor-M1 missiles fired at Ukraine jet". BBC News. 21 January 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ASN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference crash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Iran Says It Unintentionally Shot Down Ukrainian Airliner". The New York Times. 10 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Ukrainian airplane with 180 aboard crashes in Iran: Fars". Reuters. 8 January 2020. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Ukrainian airliner crashes near Tehran: Iranian media". Al Jazeera. 8 January 2020. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  7. ^ "IRGC Releases Details of Accidental Downing of Ukrainian Plane". Iran Front Page. 11 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Demands for justice after Iran's plane admission". BBC. 11 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Iranian protesters call for Khamenei's resignation over plane crash". Axios. 13 January 2020.