Cold Open

It’s the evening of May 17, 1987 in the Persian Gulf, seven years into the Iran-Iraq War.

Aboard the USS Stark, petty officer Timothy Gable lies in his bunk, his eyelids heavy.

The Stark is an American frigate currently patrolling a dangerous waterway. Iraqi and Iranian forces have turned the Persian Gulf into a battlefield, attacking oil tankers and threatening international shipping. But right now, all is quiet

And as Timothy drifts off to sleep… he’s awakened by a muffled bang, followed by a call to man battle stations.

Timothy bolts upright. As a metallic shriek echoes through the ship, he realizes that this is no drill.

A second explosion shakes the ship and everything goes dark. Seawater begins to pour into his living quarters.

Emergency lights flicker to life, but smoke is already filling the air. Timothy can hardly see his own hands. He fumbles for an emergency respirator and straps it on.

Then, he dashes toward the main exit ladder and begins to climb. But he soon finds the upper rungs are missing. There’s no way to get above deck.

Timothy stumbles through the smoke, his lungs burning. And as the fire rages around him, his mask starts to fail. With barely any oxygen left, Timothy starts to accept the unthinkable: he may die here.

But then a sudden burst of cold water hits his body, and Timothy realizes there’s a break in the hull ahead. He follows the stream blindly until he reaches a patched mangled metal. Then, in one last act of survival, Timothy throws himself into the open sea.

The attack on petty officer Timothy Gable's vessel was a tragic accident. An Iraqi jet had misidentified the USS Stark as an Iranian ship and launched two deadly missiles. Petty Officer Timothy Gable survives, but 37 of his crew are not so lucky. Their deaths will cause the US to revise its rules of engagement in the Persian Gulf, granting commanders increased authority to take preemptive action against perceived threats. But only a year later, these new rules will shape another deadly encounter in the Gulf, when the impulse to strike first will lead to the catastrophic loss of Iran Air Flight 655 on July 3rd, 1988.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is July 3rd, 1988: The Downing of Iran Air Flight 655.

Act One: The Shootdown

It’s the morning of July 3rd, 1988 in the international waters of the Persian Gulf, one year after the attack on the USS Stark.

On board the cruiser USS Vincennes, Captain William Rogers is already on alert.

The Iran-Iraq War is still ongoing, and the Vincennes has been tasked with patrolling the gulf. American intelligence has warned Captain Rogers to expect trouble over this holiday weekend—and it appears with good reason. Minutes ago, an urgent message came in over the ship’s communications network. A Pakistani merchant vessel near the Strait of Hormuz is being harassed by Iranian gunboats.

Captain Rogers dispatches a helicopter to get a closer look. And as he waits to hear back, he heads to the Vincennes’ combat information center. Inside, large screens glow with a real-time map of the surrounding air and sea.

The Vincennes is one of only five cruisers that carries “Aegis”, a new billion-dollar computerized battle management system. This cutting-edge radar and weapons technology gives the ship’s crew a near-complete picture of the tactical situation. But even this advanced system can’t clarify intent. So, Captain Rogers waits to hear back from the helicopter before taking any further action.

As the chopper nears the Iranian vessels, its pilot reports back. The gunboats don’t appear overtly hostile. But only a few moments later, another message comes in. Alarmed by the proximity of the US helicopter, the Iranians have opened fire.

To Rogers, this represents a severe escalation. Even though the helicopter escapes unscathed, Rogers decides it might be time to engage his forces. He orders the ship’s crew to battle stations. Hatches slam shut. Helmets and gas masks go on. And within moments, the Vincennes is ready for combat.

The cruiser surges north, toward the hostile gunboats. Under American rules of engagement, Captain Rogers can open fire if he believes his ship is under threat. Now, as the Vincennes approaches the Iranian vessels, they begin moving erratically through the water.

This alarms Rogers, and he gets permission from his superiors to fire a warning shot. On deck, a massive naval gun thunders and Rogers hopes that this will deter the gunboats and cause them to retreat. But the warning doesn’t work. Instead, the Iranian vessels return fire.

Soon, the Vincennes is engaged in a full sea battle. And in this environment, anything moving toward the Vincennes is viewed as a potential threat.

And inside the combat information center, radar operators call Rogers’ attention to a new contact on their screens. It’s an Iranian surveillance aircraft, and it’s headed straight toward them. The Vincennes sends a warning to the plane on a military channel. The Iranian pilot responds, promising to keep his distance. But Rogers is concerned that the surveillance plane is here to call in an Iranian air strike, and his fears escalate when the Vincennes picks up a new aircraft on its radar. Another plane has just left Iran’s nearby Bandar Abbas airport, which is used by both civilians and the military.

Despite all its advanced technology, the Vincennes crew cannot identify the plane’s type or size. It’s broadcasting a generic civilian transmission, but it still could be a military aircraft concealing its identity.

The Vincennes’ crew checks flight timetables to see if any commercial planes are due out of Bandar Abbas. But they find nothing scheduled. Then they try to contact the aircraft on a military distress frequency, but they get no response. They switch to the civilian international distress frequency and try again. But still, silence.

Then, a new complication arises. The unidentified aircraft’s signal appears to change. It’s now broadcasting a signal associated with military planes, and the aircraft is tentatively identified as an Iranian F-14, the most up-to-date fighter in the Iranian Air Force. But as the plane approaches, its signal changes again, back to the generic civilian signal. Whether the aircraft is really a military F-14 or a civilian airliner, no one knows.

As the unidentified aircraft draws closer to the Vincennes , a radar operator reports that the plane is descending. The pressure on Captain Rogers mounts as he faces a difficult decision: shoot down the unidentified aircraft or risk the lives of his own crew. The memory of the USS Stark flashes through his mind and he refuses to let his men face the same tragic fate.

Though no hostile intent is confirmed, and despite inconsistencies in the data, Captain Rogers makes the call. He orders the launch of two missiles. And seconds later, they strike their target. The plane is destroyed.

Initially, the crew of the Vincennes will believe they have averted an impending attack. But what seems like a successful defense of an American warship will soon be revealed as something far more tragic – an error in judgement that will spark outrage, deepen international tensions, and leave hundreds of families in mourning.

Act Two: The Fallout

It’s the morning of July 3rd, 1988 at Camp David in Maryland, a few minutes after the USS Vincennes shot down an unidentified aircraft.

Inside this secluded presidential retreat, US President Ronald Reagan wakes to a telephone call from his national security advisor, Colin Powell. Powell informs him that an incident has occurred in the Persian Gulf, and that American forces have shot down an Iranian jet fighter.

President Reagan absorbs the report, weighing its significance. Tensions in the Persian Gulf have been high in recent months. And the idea that a US vessel would have to defend itself is not a shock.

But as the hours pass, disturbing updates trickle in: intelligence analysts now believe the aircraft wasn’t a jet fighter at all. It was Iran Air Flight 655 – a civilian airliner on a routine flight to Dubai. 290 people were on board, and all are believed dead.

With the world watching, President Reagan issues a public statement. He calls the incident “a terrible human tragedy.” But he defends the Navy’s actions. He repeats what he’s been told – that the aircraft was headed directly for the USS Vincennes and failed to heed repeated warnings. He says the Vincennes took “proper defensive action” and “followed standing orders and widely publicized procedures, firing to protect itself against possible attack.” This quickly becomes the US government’s official position: the incident was a tragedy, but a justifiable one.

Iran takes a very different stance. The regime denounces the attack as deliberate. They simply do not believe that an American cruiser containing some of the world’s most advanced technology could mistake a civilian airliner for a fighter jet.

It's a question many are asking. So to understand how it could have happened, the US government appoints Rear Admiral William Fogarty to lead a formal investigation into the incident. And over the next few weeks, Fogarty uncovers several human errors that led to the tragedy. 

One of the biggest stemmed from a simple misunderstanding. Because of the local time difference and a 27-minute delay in the Iran Air flight’s departure, the Vincennes crew did not realize that a civilian airliner was scheduled to take off. They thought its appearance was unexpected and unexplained, but its departure was entirely routine.

Fogarty also learns that at the time the civilian airliner took off, an Iranian F-14 was also on the tarmac at Bandar Abbas. The Vincennes radar picked up signals from both planes, and a design flaw in the system made it difficult to distinguish one from the other.

Then, Captain William Rogers was told that the plane was descending in what could be a hostile maneuver. But the ship’s records show there was never any descent. Just a commercial aircraft climbing normally into the sky.

But no one double-checked the readings. Under pressure, the crew made a tragic assumption. Convinced they were witnessing a coordinated strike, the crew saw what they expected to see: an incoming military threat. Psychiatrists suggest that they may have fallen victim to “scenario fulfillment,” a phenomenon where people believe so strongly that an event is about to happen, they begin to perceive it as if it already is.

Despite all this evidence though, Admiral Fogarty concludes that the downing of Iran Air 655 was not caused by negligence or misconduct. He declares that Captain William Rogers acted prudently given the information available and the speed at which he had to make a decision. Instead, Admiral Fogarty places part of the blame on Iran for allowing a civilian airliner to fly so close to open hostilities.

Fogarty's report is intended to put the matter to bed. But for investigative journalist and former Marine Roger Charles, the report's conclusions only raises more questions. He’s particularly puzzled that there’s no map in the report showing the Vincennes’ position at the time of the attack.

In 1990, Charles gets his answer. He obtains a copy of a report by the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO. Unlike Admiral Fogarty’s report, this one gives the Vincennes’ coordinates. And as soon as Charles plots the warship’s position, he realizes why the US government withheld it. At the time of the incident, the Vincennes was inside Iranian territorial waters.

The US government has repeatedly excused the Vincennes’ actions as self-defense in international waters. They’ve also claimed that Flight 655 was flying outside of its prescribed commercial air route. But neither of these things appear true. According to the ICAO, Flight 655 complied fully with all pertinent standards—it was the US Navy that violated regulations. To Charles and many others, it’s clear that the crew of the Vincennes behaved recklessly and without due care, and that the US government was willing to cover it up.

But the holes poked in Admiral Forgarty’s investigation will have little consequence. For President Reagan, the downing of Flight 655 will quickly be overtaken by other events in a busy final year of his presidency. But for those who lost loved ones, the pain of this disaster in the Persian Gulf will never fade. 

Act Three: Mourning

It’s July 2nd,, 2012 in the Persian Gulf, 24 years after Iran Flight 655 was shot down.

Najmeh Arshad stands at the edge of a boat, staring out at the water. In her hand is a bundle of red flowers. And lined up along the rail are others gathered in a quiet vigil, gripping their own bouquets. Some murmur prayers and others simply weep.

Today is the annual remembrance ceremony for the 290 lives lost on Iran Air Flight 655. Najmeh lost someone close to her that day: her father. Now, as the boat slows over the spot where the airliner fell from the sky, Najmeh steps forward and releases a handful of flower petals into the sea. They scatter across the surface, some caught by the breeze, others sinking gently beneath the waves.

As she watches them drift from view, her grief stirs again. Outside Iran, the downing of Flight 655 has faded from public memory. But for Najmeh and many other Iranians, the pain endures. Not only for the lives lost, but for the lack of accountability.

After its tour of duty was complete, the Vincennes returned home to a hero’s welcome. Everyone on board received a Combat Action Ribbon, and Captain William Rogers was awarded the Legion of Merit, a top military honor. But these decorations were a slap in the face for the victims’ families.

Eight years later, in 1996, the US did agree to a settlement at the International Court of Justice that pledged over $60 million in compensation. But the deal included one crucial condition: that the United States accepted no legal liability for the incident.

The US government has never formally apologized for the shootdown, and most Iranians suspect it never will. Instead, the US Navy has maintained that the incident was a tragic mistake, made under the pressure of combat. But for those like Najmeh who gather here each year, that explanation rings hollow.

The downing of Flight 655 has remained a bitter touchstone in American-Iranian relations – a moment often cited in Tehran as evidence of Washington’s disregard for Iranian lives. And though the tension between the two countries has many causes, lingering beneath the surface of every confrontation is the memory of the dark day when American missiles struck an Iranian civilian airliner on July 3rd, 1988.

Outro

Next on History Daily. July 4th, 1862. An Oxford professor takes a boat ride and tells a fantastical story that will eventually become Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammed Shahzaib.

Sound design by Gabriel Gould.

Supervising Sound Designer Matthew Filler.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Alexandra Currie-Buckner.

Edited by Scott Reeves.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.