Unlike many, I remember the the incident vividly. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Crowe, made any investigation of the attack superfluous when he declared within hours after the incident that it was justifiable. He said that the cruiser acted appropriately since it believed that it was under attack. He also declared that it was broadcasting a military transponder signal, indistinguishable from the signals of a fighter plane. He further said that the aircraft was diving toward the cruiser at increasing speed, in attack mode. Once again, the talk show hosts took over. Barbara Simpson on radio station KGO in San Francisco claimed that the plane had been stuffed with dead bodies and directed toward the cruiser by remote control, so that it could be shot down in an attempt to embarrass the US. Ron Owens of the same station claimed that this was a heroically foiled Kamikaze attack. Finally by the time the report of the investigation was released, nearly everyone had forgotten about the incident. Everything that was initially reported about the tragedy turned out to be false. Rather than descending, the plane was climbing. The signal it was broadcasting was civilian, not military. The speed, altitude, direction and location all were falsely reported. The conclusion was that the cruiser had acted precipitately, firing because of misinterpretation of available data. As usual, the press all but ignored the significance of these revelations. And even now, the US has not provided an explanation or apology. We should all be ashamed!

I wonder if Israelis ever gonna apologies for killing Americans. (I know, how stupid? question)

America will not apologize for shooting down this airliner, any more than they will apologize for the death and destruction they brought to Afghanistan and Iraq. why??? Because the self-proclaimed "greatest country on earth" and the "champion of human rights" doesn't - that's why.

Of course, the U.S will not apologise for its war crimes and crimes against humanity. Militarism aggression is how the U.S deals with people it doesn’t like. But why the Iranians and the world are looking for an apology from the U.S administration of this moment? How many millions of innocent human lives have been destroyed with U. military power since the downing of this civilian jetliner? How many millions of Iraq have destroyed by the U.S since the downing of this jetliner? How many civilian lives have taken away in remote villages in Afghanistan by U.S military might since the downing of the jetliner? There are brave Americans speak out against the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by U.S empire. However, this story underscores that the U.S witch-hunt against Iran will not stop until Iran gets its own nuclear weapons. Tragically, Russia and China have failed to convince the U.S imperialists aggressors that the their past and current conduct will not weaken the resolve of Iran; instead, it will make its people more determined.

Also want to thank RT for sharing this story with its readers. Without the internet and also without alternative media outlets to the U.S corporate media dominance in the U.S. stories like this one would not reach critical mass in the world. P/S. Of course, the plane was ascending for if it was descending, the U.S milirary could not have missed for what it was: huge civilian airliner. What is missing from this story is careful examination of the sinister joy expressed by American sailors after downing this civilian airliner. We have seen this sinister expression of joy in countless other cases of U.S aerial attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to examine this culture of taking pleasure in causing death and destruction to the defenseless people.

Did Russia ever apologise for shooting down of KAL 007 in1983 An unarmed civilian aircraft which made a navigational error.I look forward to any answers

Denchke: You fail to mention that KAL 007 invaded Soviet air space over 500 kilometers, and was flying above secret Soviet military facilities before it was shot down. Unless standards for certification of airline pilots are much more lax than my comfort as an airline passenger allows me to believe, that can hardly be called a “navigational error.” Certainly the same cannot be said about the Iranian airliner. I think the problem with comparisons with KAL 007 and this event, are that the US Government, to whom I pay my taxes, lied initially about the shooting down of the Iranian airliner. Awards for meritorious service were given to the crew despite their incompetence, and were never, to the best of my knowledge, rescinded. Isvestia, an organ of the Soviet Government, investigated the KAL incident, and published an account that was less than favorable toward the Government. To my knowledge, no such critical comment has been forthcoming from the American Media regarding the Iranian airliner, even in the face of a report that was harshly critical of the crew's actions during the event. In the US, we pride ourselves on the "openness" of our press. No such claim was ever made by the Soviet Government, which has since been replaced by a more moderate regime.