Investigation Summary
The aircraft departed Tehran at 06:12 local time. Due to a misalignment of a Tor-M1 mobile air defense unit, the radar operator misidentified the climbing civilian airliner as a hostile cruise missile. The operator, unable to establish communication with the command center, fired two missiles at the aircraft. The first missile detonated near the cockpit, causing immediate damage and disabling the transponder. The second missile struck seconds later, leading to a total loss of control and a high-speed impact in a park and orchard near Shahedshahr.
Final Conclusions
The Iranian Civil Aviation Organization (CAOI) concluded that the primary cause was a 107-degree misalignment of the radar system and a failure in the chain of command. International observers and the Ukrainian government criticized the report for failing to address why Iranian airspace remained open to civilian traffic during a high-alert military situation.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Systems & Failure Modes
Tor-M1 (SA-15 Gauntlet)
A mobile, short-range surface-to-air missile system used to intercept low-altitude targets.
Mode S Transponder
The aircraft's secondary surveillance radar equipment which ceased functioning after the first missile strike.
ADS-B
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system used for tracking the aircraft's position via satellite.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was only 3.5 years old at the time of the crash.
- 02Iran initially denied missile involvement, blaming a technical engine fire.
- 03The victims included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, and 11 Ukrainians.
- 04The Tor-M1 system had been relocated shortly before the incident without being recalibrated.
- 05The flight was delayed by nearly an hour due to weight and balance adjustments.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Known Controversies & Unanswered Questions
Delayed admission by Iran
For three days Iranian authorities publicly denied any involvement, attributing the crash to technical failure. Iran acknowledged that its air-defence forces shot the aircraft down only after Western intelligence agencies (US, Canada) publicly presented evidence.
Investigation access disputes
The affected states (Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, UK, Afghanistan) formally objected to Iran's handling of the investigation, citing delayed and restricted access to the black boxes (eventually read out in France in July 2020) and to the crash site. Iran's final report has been challenged by Ukraine as incomplete regarding chain-of-command decisions.
Location
APPROXIMATE AREA ONLY · This position predates coordinate provenance tracking. Treat it as an approximate marker for the area, not the accident site. No map is shown, because a marker here would imply a precision the record does not have.
Reported location: Shahedshahr, Iran