On This Day in American History |
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On July 3, 1988, the United States Navy cruiser Vincennes, shoots down an Iranian passenger jet over the Persian Gulf near the Straits of Hormuz. All 290 people on board were killed. The Navy originally identified Iran Air flight 655 as a military plane and said the plane was not flying in a commercial corridor and that the plane was descending. Further investigations revealed the plane was in a commercial corridor and was not descending. In 1996, the U.S. agreed to pay families of the victims $62 million in damages. |
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