Iran pointed out that in the past "the United States has steadfastly condemned the shooting down of aircraft, whether civil or military, by the armed forces of another State" and cited El Al Flight 402, Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114, and Korean Air Lines Flight 007, among other incidents.Iran also noted that when Iraq attacked the USS Stark, the U.S. found Iraq fully responsible on the grounds that the Iraqi pilot "knew or should have known" he was attacking a U.S. warship

Soviet air defence radar spotted the plane at 20:54, when the plane was approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) away from Soviet territorial waters.[8] At 21:19 the plane entered Soviet airspace. As the plane did not respond to multiple requests from the ground, a Su-15 interceptor, piloted by Alexander Bosov, was dispatched to intercept the airliner. Having approached KAL902, Bosov waggled the Su-15's wings multiple times, using the international signal for the airliner to follow the interceptor. Instead, KAL902 made a 90-degree turn towards the Soviet-Finnish border. Bosov reported the attempted escape from Soviet airspace to the Air Defence Command Officer Vladimir Tsarkov, and the latter, based on internal instructions, commanded Bosov to shoot down KAL902.[citation needed]

According to Kim's account of the attack, the interceptor approached his aircraft from the right side rather than the left as required by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulation.[8] Kim decreased his speed and turned on the navigation lights, indicating that he was ready to follow the Soviet fighter for landing.[8]

According to Soviet reports, the airliner repeatedly ignored commands to follow the interceptor.[9] Flight 902's co-pilot, S.D. Cha said that the crew had attempted to communicate with the interceptor via radio, but did not receive a response.[6]

Bosov tried to convince his superiors that the plane was not a military threat, but after receiving orders to shoot it down[10][8] at 21:42 he fired an R-60 missile.[citation needed] The missile flew past the target.[8] A second missile hit the left wing, knocking off approximately 4 metres (13 ft) of its length. The missile also punctured the fuselage, causing rapid decompression and jamming one of the plane's four turbines.[8] Korean passenger Bahng Tais Hwang died in the missile strike, which also wounded several others.[6]

After being hit, the airliner quickly descended from an altitude of 9,000 m (30,000 ft).[8] It fell into a cloud, disappearing from Soviet air defence radars. Soviets mistook the part of the wing that had fallen off Flight 902 for a cruise missile and dispatched another Su-15 interceptor to fire at it.[8] Bosov's Su-15 had to return to the airbase due to low fuel

En 2013, deux jugements en responsabilité civile de la Cour de cassation italienne ont attribué l’explosion à un missile air-air, sans identifier la nationalité de l’avion de chasse qui l’aurait lancé. L’État italien est condamné à verser 100 millions d’euros d’indemnités aux familles des victimes pour ne pas avoir correctement défendu son espace aérien. Selon les magistrats, le missile était très probablement destiné au dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi, et ses « empreintes » impliqueraient la France9. Fin juin 2014, la justice italienne adresse une quatorzième salve de commissions rogatoires à propos du crash, concernant les vols possibles d'avions français partis de la base de Solenzara en Corse13 ou du porte-avions Foch. Le Quai d'Orsay affirme qu'il continuera à collaborer pleinement avec la justice italienne2.

Conspiracy theoriesEdit

Several conspiracy theories explaining the disaster persist. For example, the vessel that carried out the search for debris on the ocean floor was French, but only US officials had access to the aircraft parts they found. Several radar reports were erased and several Italian generals were indicted 20 years later for obstruction of justice. The difficulty the investigators and the victims' relatives had in receiving complete, reliable information on the Ustica disaster has been popularly described as un muro di gomma (literally, a rubber wall), because investigations just seemed to "bounce back".

A number of Italian Air Force personnel have been investigated and tried for a number of alleged offences, including falsification of documents, high treason, perjury, abuse of office and aiding and abetting. None have been convicted

The perpetrators of the crime remain unidentified.

In 1989, the Parliamentary Commission on Terrorism, headed by Senator Giovanni Pellegrino, issued an official statement concerning the crash of Flight 870, which became known as the "Ustica Massacre" (Strage di Ustica). The crash was referred to as "primarily an act of war, a de facto unreported war – as has been customary ever since Pearl Harbor, until the latest Balkan conflict – an international police operation, in fact, up to the great powers, since there was no mandate in this sense; a non-military coercive action exercised lawfully or illicitly, by one State against another; or an act of terrorism, as it was later claimed, of an attack on a head of state or regime leader."{Ordinanza-sentenza, 1999, p. 4965}

A number of Italian Air Force personnel have been investigated and tried for a number of alleged offences, including falsification of documents, high treason, perjury, abuse of office and aiding and abetting. None have been convicted.

On 30 April 2004, Generals Corrado Melillo and Zeno Tascio were held to be not guilty of high treason. Lesser charges against a number of other military personnel were also dropped. Other allegations could no longer be pursued after the expiration of the statute of limitations, since the disaster had occurred more than 15 years before, which included charges against Generals Lamberto Bartolucci and Franco Ferri. In 2005, an appeals court ruled that no evidence supported the charges. On 10 January 2007, the Italian Court of Cassation upheld this ruling and conclusively closed the case, fully acquitting Bartolucci and Ferri of any wrongdoing.

In June 2010, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano urged all Italian authorities to cooperate in the investigation of the incident.[7]

In September 2011, a Palermo civil tribunal ordered the Italian government to pay 100 million euros ($137 million) in civil damages to the relatives of the victims for failing to protect the flight, concealing the truth and destroying evidence.[8]

On 23 January 2013, the Civil Cassation Court ruled that there was "abundantly" clear evidence that the flight was brought down by a stray missile, confirming the lower court's order that the Italian government must pay compensation.[9]

In April 2015, an appeals court in Palermo confirmed the rulings of the 2011 Palermo civil tribunal and dismissed an appeal by the state attorney.[10]

In 2008, Francesco Cossiga (Prime Minister when the incident occurred) said that Itavia Flight 870 had been shot down by French warplanes.[11] On 7 July 2008, a claim for damages was served on the French President.[citation needed]

Missile strike during military operation

Parts of the Italian media alleged that the aircraft was shot down during a dogfight involving Libyan, United States, French and Italian Air Force fighters in an assassination attempt by NATO members on an important Libyan politician, perhaps even Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was flying in the same airspace that evening.[18] This version was supported in 1999 by Judge Rosario Priore,[19] who said in his concluding report that his investigation had been deliberately obstructed by the Italian military and members of the secret service, in compliance with NATO requests.

Taiwan wants to assess whether the service life of a number of its Mirage fighter jets can be extended for both strategic and risk-hedging reasons, the Air Force Command Headquarters said in a statement Monday.

The Air Force said it has budgeted NT$150 million (US$4.77 million) to commission Dassault to evaluate whether or not nine of its two-seater Mirage planes could continue serving Taiwan for another 20 years, with the assessment scheduled to be completed by July 2026.