MN.08.07.1988.Iran Air Disaster

On 3 July 1988, at the end of the Iran–Iraq War, an Airbus A300B2-203, was shot down as it flew over the Strait of Hormuz by SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles fired from the United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes. The aircraft, which had been flying in Iranian airspace over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on its usual flight path to Dubai, was destroyed. All 290 on board, including 66 children and 16 crew, perished. The only way of getting the Iranian side of the story was via shortwave from the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran. But the transmitter was only switched on mid sentence when we listened in. Radio Japan and Radio France Internationale have decided on a transmitter swap. NHK, for some reason, insisted on using narrow bandwidth phone lines so the audio sounded awful. Radio Bras also started relaying Swiss Radio International. We also talked to William Marsh about changes Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. He argued that dramatic events in the Baltic were not reported on by Soviet media. Radio Netherlands was also celebrated 300 years of Anglo Dutch relations. I went to the Dutch Postal Museum to discover that the Dutch East India Company had the right to read all the letters they were carrying. And they threw the letters from competitors into the sea. Sounds like an early NSA. (I remember that we were using a new brand of cassettes that week - but they were wrongly biased - hence the wierd sibiliance.