Terror in the sky: Civilian flights downed by the military

The tragedy of MH17 is the latest in a long line of aviation tragedies where civilians have lost their lives due to military error or itchy trigger fingers

Terror in the sky: Civilian flights downed by the military

A Dutch-led multinational team has concluded a Russian-made Buk missile was responsible for bringing down MH17. It is yet to be determined who fired the fatal shot but fingers have been pointed at Russian special forces soldiers operating in Ukraine.

It is one of many cases in history where aircraft have been shot down by overzealous military. An itchy trigger finger and the hasty failure to properly identify a civilian craft has been the most common reason that innocent passengers have lost their lives at the hands of soldiers.

1938: Kweilin DC-2

The first recorded downing of a civilian aircraft by military forces took place over China in 1938. The Kweilin, a DC-2 aircraft operated by the China National Aviation Corporation, took off from Hong Kong just after 8am on August 24, 1938. Carrying 18 passengers and crew and piloted by American Hugh Woods, it entered Chinese airspace at about 8.30pm encountering eight Japanese air force planes. The pilot took evasive action but was fired on by the Japanese and he ditched the plane in a river. Fourteen people were killed. There was an international outcry over this deliberate targeting of a civilian plane. The plane was salvaged, rebuilt and shot down again by the Japanese in 1940.

1942: KNILM DC-3

In March of 1942 a Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KNILM or Royal Dutch Indies Airways) DC-3 was flying from Bandung in Java to Broome in Australia, carrying passengers fleeing the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies. Some passengers were carrying diamonds worth as much as £300,000. On its approach to Broome at about 9am it was attacked by three Japanese fighter planes heading back to their base after attacking Broome. The pilot of the DC-3 was World War I flying ace Ivan Smirnov, who tried to land on the beach but a tyre blew out and the plane skidded into the sea. Four people were killed when the Japanese strafed the plane but there were eight survivors. Only about £20,000 worth of the diamonds were ever recovered.

1942. A cross erected to make the civilian deaths after Ivan Smirnoff's plane was shot down by Japanese Zero fighters near Broome.

1943: BOAC flight 777

Despite most British air traffic being grounded since the beginning of World War II there was still a limited number of planes flying. British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) still operated a service from Lisbon in neutral Portugal to Whitchurch in England. The Germans largely respected the neutrality of the civilian aircraft coming from Portugal; although there had been some attacks, none were shot down. Then in June of 1943 a BOAC DC-3 flight 777 with four crew and 13 passengers, including Gone With The Wind star Leslie Howard, was downed over the Bay Of Biscay, off Spain, by eight German Junkers Ju 88 aircraft. The German fighter pilots later expressed regret for shooting down the plane and claimed that authorities failed to warn them it was a civilian airliner. However, it has been theorised that the Germans believed British PM Winston Churchill was aboard and that the attack was an attempt to assassinate him.

1943: Actor Leslie Howard (here with Olivia de Havilland in Gone With The Wind) is on a plane shot down over the Bay Of Biscay by German Junkers Ju 88 aircraft.

1983: KAL flight 007

In September 1983, Korean Airlines Flight 007 was en route from New York to Seoul when it veered off course due to a fault in the autopilot and flew over Moneron Island, west of Sakhalin Island, in the northern part of the Sea of Japan. It was fired on by a Soviet SU 15 interceptor. All 269 people aboard were killed including an American congressman. The Soviets claimed the passenger jet was in restricted airspace and that there was no way for their fighter pilots to know that it was a civilian plane.

1983: A Soviet mini-submarine used in the search for debris from Korean Air Lines flight 007 rests on the deck of a conventional tender vessel in Nevel'sk, Sakhalin Island, in the East Sea off Russia. Picture: Ap

1988: Iran Air flight 655

An Iran Air A300, flight 655, was flying from Tehran, stopping over in Bandar Abbas, on its way to Dubai on July 3, 1988, when it began its descent toward Dubai airport. USS Vincennes was sailing nearby, in Iranian waters, chasing Iranian gunboats out of Omani waters when it spotted the aircraft and reportedly mistook it for an Iranian F-14. After receiving no reply to radio contact the Vincennes fired a missile, killing all 290 passengers and crew. After a settlement in the International Court of Justice the US paid Iran US$131.8 million in damages, expressing regret for the tragedy.

2001: Siberia Airlines flight 1812

Siberian airlines flight 1812 flying from Tel Aviv to Novosirsk in Siberia crashed into the Black Sea in October of 2001. At first it was assumed that it was a terrorist attack but evidence later showed that the plane was downed by a S-200 missile. The Ukrainian government later admitted fault for accidentally firing on the plane during an exercise.

2001: Gabi Ofir, head of the Israel Airports Authority, shows journalists a map showing the flightpath of downed Sibir Airlines flight 1812. Picture: AP

Originally published as Terror in the sky: Civilian flights downed by the military