Expert Opinion
AINsight: Trigger Happy
Operating aircraft within or over a war zone has clearly turned out to be a failure in risk management.

New details are beginning to emerge from the shootdown of a Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 by Iranian missiles in January. In a report released this week by Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority, both the flight data and voice recorders functioned for 19 more seconds after the initial missile strike. During that period, all aircraft systems reportedly were functioning normally, and the flight crew were uninjured. Six seconds later, a second missile would hit the aircraft, causing it to plummet into the ground and kill all 176 aboard.

Unanswered in the report are why the airspace around Tehran was open, why the missiles were launched, and why an airline would opt to fly in a conflict zone in the first place.

Stuart “Kipp” Lau
Contributor - Safety
About the author

Pilot, safety expert, consultant, and aviation journalist Stuart “Kipp” Lau writes about flight safety and airmanship for AIN.

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