Iran Agency Says Chain of Errors Caused Ukrainian Plane Crash

Iran Agency Says Chain of Errors Caused Ukrainian Plane Crash
People place candles as they commemorate victims of the Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 plane disaster, in front of the Iranian embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 17, 2020. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
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DUBAI—Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization blamed a misalignment of a radar system and lack of communication between the air defense operator and his commanders for the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January that killed 176 people aboard.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight with a ground-to-air missile on Jan. 8 shortly after the plane took off from Tehran, in what Tehran later acknowledged as a “disastrous mistake” by forces who were on high alert during a confrontation with the United States.