Human Error Reportedly Cited in Downing of Iranian Airbus

NEW YORK — Pentagon investigators have concluded that human error was primarily responsible for the shooting down of an Iranian jetliner by a U.S. warship, according to published reports.

The official report on the disaster that killed 290 people last month says that the sophisticated radar equipment on board the cruiser Vincennes functioned well, ABC News reported Tuesday.

In today’s editions, the New York Times says the investigators believe that the crew members’ error stemmed from the psychological stress of being in combat for the first time.

The official Navy report is not expected until next month. Rear Adm. William M. Fogarty, who heads the team probing the disaster, presented his findings Monday to Gen. George B. Crist, commander of the U.S. Central Command, the military organization responsible for all U.S. forces in the Mideast.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the media reports.

Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down in the Persian Gulf on July 3 with the loss of all passengers and crew members. Navy officials said the Vincennes’ crew believed that the plane was an attacking Iranian F-14 jet fighter.

Quoting an unnamed Pentagon source, ABC said the report indicates that the Vincennes’ computerized records show that the airliner was traveling much more slowly than the 415 nautical miles an hour estimated by the ship. ABC said the report also indicates that the plane was climbing rather than descending toward the ship, as officials first said.

Information on a plane’s speed and altitude are read off a screen and relayed to the commanding officer. ABC News said it could not immediately be learned if the report says other officers misinterpreted radar data or conveyed it inaccurately to Capt. Will C. Rogers III, who made the decision to fire.

The New York Times said the report concludes that tension aboard the Vincennes was high because the ship had just engaged in a brief battle with some Iranian attack boats, marking the American crew’s first time in battle.