Video: 'July 3-5, 1988 Iran Air Flight 655 Shootdown News Coverage (Part 1)'

(Sunday, July 3, 1988; 10:54 a.m. Iran Standard Time) — The USS Vincennes, while seeking to protect itself from what was thought to be a hostile F-14 jet fighter, today shot down Iran Air Flight 655, a scheduled civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai.

The aircraft, an Airbus A300, was destroyed and all 290 people on board including 66 children, were killed.

The jet was hit while flying over Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf along the flight’s usual route.

Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.

President Ronald Reagan and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admirmal William J. Crowe Jr., both said the United States regretted the loss of life.

Video: 'July 3-5, 1988 Iran Air Flight 655 Shootdown News Coverage (Part 2)'

Video: 'US Missile shoot down - Iran Air Flight 655 Documentary'