Sam systems can be set to fire automatically. Especially if there is an expectation of a missile attack. American patriot systems have downed several friendly aircraft in past conflicts in this manner.

There's also the question of whether the SAM battery was connected to the Integrated Air Defense System or whether it was operating independently.  If the latter, an undertrained or panicked crew could have fired on its own authority.

Some interesting technical background here.

 

43 minutes ago, Alan_A said:

There's also the question of whether the SAM battery was connected to the Integrated Air Defense System or whether it was operating independently.  If the latter, an undertrained or panicked crew could have fired on its own authority.

Some interesting technical background here.

 

At least one article, possibly from the CBC, mentions the flight left an hour late. If so, the military may not have been aware of the change in schedule, and thus not expecting the plane to be where it was.

Edited January 10, 20206 yr by goates

1 hour ago, domkle said:

....only that IMHO the West characterizing it so fast as an accident is political....

On the contrary, I thought the West characterised it as a shoot-down so fast rather than an accident 

Goates, that article was an interesting read, thank you.

At least it is now an admission on their part rather then an attempted cover up:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-jetliner-unintentionally-shot-down-1.5423608

 

I wonder if they would have admitted it if there had been no evidence....

52 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

I wonder if they would have admitted it if there had been no evidence....

no they wouldnt.  

Their foreign minister was calling the west all sorts of slurs yesterday on sky news.

Finally, admitted what the world suspected.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51073621

2 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

I wonder if they would have admitted it if there had been no evidence....

Probably not. Just like for the one shot over Ukraine and the one in Ustica too.

I applaud them for admitting it. Although they look pretty bad for lying about it at first.

But I wonder how their propaganda press is going to spin this for their own people, considering that they were so determined to deny any involvement as "scientifically impossible".

After all most of the victims, to my understanding, were iranians themself. I would be pretty word not allowed if my Government would pull such a stunt.

Edited January 11, 20206 yr by Farlis

2 hours ago, Farlis said:

I applaud them for admitting it.

But why? They shot down an unrelated civil airliner. Admitting what they did is the least I would expect them to do. As someone mentioned above, perhaps there would have been no admission at all if there were no evidence. I would think they knew pretty soon after the crash that their military shot it down and yet they insisted right after it happened it was a technical issue which was suspicious from the first second to me because there's really not much of a chance to know that just hours after it happened.

With so much evidence leaking out and the media publishing it, I guess the notion of it being a Boeing 737 and just blowing up in flight was not holding any water.

Here you can read the sad story of Mr. Shekiba Feghahati who lost his wife and his son in the shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752. There are many other such stories and there are no words to begin to describe the profound grief of secondary victims. Death can`t be ultimately avoided but too many unnecessary deaths could have been, can and should be. Not because of losses incurred by civil liability insurers, or because they can bankrupt an airline or impact the stock value of a manufacturer but because the human costs are greater than all the money in the world. The deaths of Mr. Feghahati`s family was avoidable and it`s going to be very difficult to derive something good about this shootdown that could prevent it from happening again to keep passengers safer. These deaths were senseless. If it`s going to come down to flipping a switch while texting or whatever it was that those who shot down this aircraft were thinking about, none of us will ever be safe. Innocent civilians should not be in the death beds of impotent politicians and generals who resort to the use of weapons to make themselves feel alive. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/iran-plane-crash-victims-wife-son-shekiba-feghahati-1.5423832

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by CYXR

What do you would happen if say The USA accidently shot down either a Ukrainian or Iranian 737?  The world would be upside down. 

As of yet I can't see a single country properly condemning Iran least of all Canada 

 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by fluffyflops

This is what happened when the USA shot down an Iranian airliner,

so there is no need to speculate.