The incident took place in Iranian airspace, over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, and on the flight's usual flight path.
All 290 on board, including 66 children and 16 crew, died. This event ranks seventh among the
deadliest disasters in aviation history.
The aircraft, an
Airbus A300 B2-203, was destroyed by
SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles fired from the
Vincennes
According to the Iranian government,
Vincennes negligently shot down the civilian aircraft: the airliner was making
IFF squawks in Mode III (not Mode II used by Iranian military planes), a signal that identified it as a civilian craft, and operators of
Vincennes mistook for Mode II.
As of 1993, the United States had not apologized to Iran.
[7] In 1996, the United States and Iran reached "an agreement in full and final settlement of all disputes, differences, claims, counterclaims" relating to the incident at the
International Court of Justice, including a recognition of the incident in the form of "...the United States recognized the aerial incident of 3 July 1988 as a terrible human tragedy and expressed deep regret over the Loss of lives caused by the incident...".
[8] As part of the settlement, the United States did not admit legal liability but agreed to pay US$61.8 million, amounting to $213,103.45 per passenger, in compensation to the families of the Iranian victims.