US Navy cruiser spots an airplane approaching them on a radar. Numerous attempts to contact the aircraft go unanswered. Is it a friend or a foe? The Navy commander must make a decision wheth... Read allUS Navy cruiser spots an airplane approaching them on a radar. Numerous attempts to contact the aircraft go unanswered. Is it a friend or a foe? The Navy commander must make a decision whether or not to shoot down the approaching airplane.US Navy cruiser spots an airplane approaching them on a radar. Numerous attempts to contact the aircraft go unanswered. Is it a friend or a foe? The Navy commander must make a decision whether or not to shoot down the approaching airplane.
Jonathan Aris
- Narrator
- (voice)
Roger Charles
- Self
- (as Lt. Col. Roger Charles - retired)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsUS Navy enlisted radar operators in scenes set is USS Vincennes Combat Information Center (16;55) are not wearing US enlisted Insignia. Rather they are wearing British Other Ranks insignia. (Chevron worn point down, without a crown device inside which would indicate Canadian insignia)
- Crazy credits"This episode is dedicated to Robin Spry", filming crew member killed in a car accident in 2005.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Air Crash Investigation: Lockerbie Disaster (2009)
Featured review
Caution, Sea Battle Ahead.
It's 1988 and the Iran/Iraq war is in progress. Neutral tankers are doing their best to get through the Straits of Hormuz and bring out Iraqi oil, while small Iranian speedboats armed with rockets and machine guns are harassing them and sometimes doing serious damage. The U. S. Navy is the chief peacekeeper in the Gulf at the time, working with Saddam Hussein to keep the world supplied with oil. (This is 1988, not 2003.)
One of the ships is the cruiser USS Vincennes. A look at it made me gasp. Compared to the ship I was on, it looked like a floating city with nothing but computers and other complicated electronics inside. The weather decks were deserted. I wondered if anybody in the crew ever got sunburned.
The Vincennes armament is formidable, ranging from various missiles, through a quick-firing automatic 5-inch gun, to a Phalanx Gatling gun that fires many 20 mm. rounds per second. The Phalanx is a last resort, used for fast-closing missiles like the Exocet, but by that time it's too late.
A helicopter from the Vincennes is sent to take a look at some Iranian gunboats that are reported to be causing mischief. The helo finds no suspicious activity but flies too close and receives some AAA fire, at which point the aircraft returns to the ship unharmed.
Under the rules of engagement the Vincennes is permitted to respond to force with force and she speeds towards the location of the gunboats at more than 30 knots. The captain, Will Rogers, is known for quick action. The cruiser approaches the gunboats and they fire, but the rounds fall far short. The Captain Rogers then opens up with the 5-inch gun. The result is a small sea battle between an American warship and nimble but poorly armed speedboats crewed by a paramilitary group.
Meanwhile, an IranAir flight with 290 passengers is due to take off for a 20-minute hop across the Straits to Dubai, using international air passage corridors, but is delayed for 20 minutes. Iranian F-14 fighters have been using the same air strip, and ambiguous signals cause the passenger plane to be identified on U.S. radar as an incoming F-14. The F-14s, the most sophisticated fighters in the Iranian Air Force, were American built, sold to Iran when the Shah was head of state. The crew of the IranAir flight are following routine procedures and have no idea that they're in any danger.
In the middle of all this adrenaline and confusion, the Vincennes' 5-inch gun jams and the captain's attention is diverted. The ship continues to send out warnings on various frequencies but the flight continues its approach. Moreover, at 13 miles, it begins to lose altitude and increase speed, a classic attack pattern. A year earlier an Iraqi fighter accidentally attacked the USS Cole and hit it with two Exocets. Thirty-seven sailors died, the ship almost lost, and the captain of the Cole was kicked out of the Navy. It's a tough spot for Captain Rogers on the Vincennes.
He launches two missiles and holds his finger over the "Hold Fire" button which will destroy the missiles in flight, just in case the airplane responds to the new-continuous warnings. There is no response and the AirIran flight is destroyed with all aboard. Propaganda fodder for Iran and a shock to the rest of the world.
How could it have happened? Human error. The operator on the Vincennes had locked on to the radar image of the Airbus but had left the IFF ("Identification Friend or Foe") receiver on the air strip, where it was picking up signals from an F-14 fighter, identifying the airplane as a fighter.
The Vincennes had also sent out ten radio warnings. Why was there no response? Seven of the warnings were sent on an international military distress frequency and the Airbus wasn't equipped to receive them because it was a commercial airplane. Three warnings were sent on a civilian frequency but were addressed to "unidentified aircraft" approaching at "350 knots." The Airbus' speed measure 300 knots so the pilots assumed the warnings were meant for someone else.
Why did the Airbus descend and follow a classic attack pattern? It didn't. It was continuing its routine climb. The radar operator made a mistake due to what the Navy psychiatrist called "scenario fulfillment." If you believe strongly that something is happening, then you'll continue to interpret the data accordingly, even if the evidence contradicts you.
So who does the Naval inquiry ultimately hold responsible? Iran -- for allowing its airplane to be in close proximity to a sea battle! No naval personnel had made any mistakes. The captain trusted his subordinate officers, who relied on the judgment of their subordinate, right down to the lowest enlisted man.
A later independent investigation reveals that Captain Rogers was denied permission to head north and investigate the mischievous gunboats. He was told by his superior to head to a different station in the gulf and leave his helo in place. By chasing the gunboats, Rogers had taken his ship into Iranian waters and in the direct path of civilian air traffic. Rogers nevertheless is greeted as a hero and awarded the Legion of Merit. His Tactical Command Officer received a Navy Commendation.
Every year, the families of the 290 victims sail to the site of the crash and distribute flowers, much like the families of the many victims of the Korean Air flight shot down accidentally by the Soviet Air Force some years earlier.
One of the ships is the cruiser USS Vincennes. A look at it made me gasp. Compared to the ship I was on, it looked like a floating city with nothing but computers and other complicated electronics inside. The weather decks were deserted. I wondered if anybody in the crew ever got sunburned.
The Vincennes armament is formidable, ranging from various missiles, through a quick-firing automatic 5-inch gun, to a Phalanx Gatling gun that fires many 20 mm. rounds per second. The Phalanx is a last resort, used for fast-closing missiles like the Exocet, but by that time it's too late.
A helicopter from the Vincennes is sent to take a look at some Iranian gunboats that are reported to be causing mischief. The helo finds no suspicious activity but flies too close and receives some AAA fire, at which point the aircraft returns to the ship unharmed.
Under the rules of engagement the Vincennes is permitted to respond to force with force and she speeds towards the location of the gunboats at more than 30 knots. The captain, Will Rogers, is known for quick action. The cruiser approaches the gunboats and they fire, but the rounds fall far short. The Captain Rogers then opens up with the 5-inch gun. The result is a small sea battle between an American warship and nimble but poorly armed speedboats crewed by a paramilitary group.
Meanwhile, an IranAir flight with 290 passengers is due to take off for a 20-minute hop across the Straits to Dubai, using international air passage corridors, but is delayed for 20 minutes. Iranian F-14 fighters have been using the same air strip, and ambiguous signals cause the passenger plane to be identified on U.S. radar as an incoming F-14. The F-14s, the most sophisticated fighters in the Iranian Air Force, were American built, sold to Iran when the Shah was head of state. The crew of the IranAir flight are following routine procedures and have no idea that they're in any danger.
In the middle of all this adrenaline and confusion, the Vincennes' 5-inch gun jams and the captain's attention is diverted. The ship continues to send out warnings on various frequencies but the flight continues its approach. Moreover, at 13 miles, it begins to lose altitude and increase speed, a classic attack pattern. A year earlier an Iraqi fighter accidentally attacked the USS Cole and hit it with two Exocets. Thirty-seven sailors died, the ship almost lost, and the captain of the Cole was kicked out of the Navy. It's a tough spot for Captain Rogers on the Vincennes.
He launches two missiles and holds his finger over the "Hold Fire" button which will destroy the missiles in flight, just in case the airplane responds to the new-continuous warnings. There is no response and the AirIran flight is destroyed with all aboard. Propaganda fodder for Iran and a shock to the rest of the world.
How could it have happened? Human error. The operator on the Vincennes had locked on to the radar image of the Airbus but had left the IFF ("Identification Friend or Foe") receiver on the air strip, where it was picking up signals from an F-14 fighter, identifying the airplane as a fighter.
The Vincennes had also sent out ten radio warnings. Why was there no response? Seven of the warnings were sent on an international military distress frequency and the Airbus wasn't equipped to receive them because it was a commercial airplane. Three warnings were sent on a civilian frequency but were addressed to "unidentified aircraft" approaching at "350 knots." The Airbus' speed measure 300 knots so the pilots assumed the warnings were meant for someone else.
Why did the Airbus descend and follow a classic attack pattern? It didn't. It was continuing its routine climb. The radar operator made a mistake due to what the Navy psychiatrist called "scenario fulfillment." If you believe strongly that something is happening, then you'll continue to interpret the data accordingly, even if the evidence contradicts you.
So who does the Naval inquiry ultimately hold responsible? Iran -- for allowing its airplane to be in close proximity to a sea battle! No naval personnel had made any mistakes. The captain trusted his subordinate officers, who relied on the judgment of their subordinate, right down to the lowest enlisted man.
A later independent investigation reveals that Captain Rogers was denied permission to head north and investigate the mischievous gunboats. He was told by his superior to head to a different station in the gulf and leave his helo in place. By chasing the gunboats, Rogers had taken his ship into Iranian waters and in the direct path of civilian air traffic. Rogers nevertheless is greeted as a hero and awarded the Legion of Merit. His Tactical Command Officer received a Navy Commendation.
Every year, the families of the 290 victims sail to the site of the crash and distribute flowers, much like the families of the many victims of the Korean Air flight shot down accidentally by the Soviet Air Force some years earlier.
- rmax304823
- Oct 1, 2016
- Permalink
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