Yesterday Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, crashed in Ukraine killing all 295 people on board.
There are reports that the plane was shot down.
We can't say with any certainty how this will impact the conflict in Ukraine, or international
relations.
But we can look back at other similar incidents to see what their impact was.
On September 1st, 1983, Korean Flight 007, was shot down by a Soviet fighter jet, while
flying in restricted soviet airspace.
All 269 people on board died, including US Congressman Lawrence McDonald.
The soviets thought that the flight was a US spy plane.
This was during the cold war and needless to say tensions were high.
The US pushed the United Nations to punish Russia through commercial boycotts, lawsuits,
and denial of landing rights for Soviet airlines.
They also wanted to hold Soviet leadership responsible for the incident.
In response, the airlines of more than a dozen nations launched an unprecedented 14-day boycott
on flights to and from Moscow.
And the UN launched an investigation into the incident.
They concluded that the violation of soviet airspace was accidental, caused by a failure
with the plane's auto-pilot, and condemned the Soviet Union for the attack.
A condemnation that the Soviet Union then vetoed, a right they had at the time as a
member of the UN Council.
The UN condemnation came to basically nothing.
And that's a fear that some people have about the current disaster.
Despite apparent guilt and International condemnation, the people who shot down the plane may not
be forced to atone for their actions.
This whole thing may just blow over.
But before we jump to that conclusion, let's look at another more recent incident.
Iran Air Flight 655.
This was another commercial flight accidentally fired on and brought down.
This one was shot down by the USS Vincennes on July 3rd, 1988, during the Iran-Iraq War.
The USS Vincennes thought that it was shooting down a "hostile Iranian fighter aircraft".
They later admitted that both the USS Vincennes and the plane were in "recognized commercial
flightpaths" and that shooting it down was human error.
Despite that not a single crew member received a reprimand from the US Government or Navy.
Iran went to the UN security council to sue the US for restitution.
The UN International Court of Justice eventually awarded Iran 61.8 million dollars.
The US agreed to pay the full amount, but they wouldn't formally admit guilt or offer
an apology.
This incident fostered Iranian distrust of the US.
A distrust that still exists today.
Which is an important thing to note.
Whoever did shoot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 will have doubt cast upon them,
their intentions, and their military practices.
If nothing else comes out of this, the US, the UN, and the International community as
a whole will walk away trusting that group less.
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