Authorities in the United States and elsewhere believe that the crash near Tehran of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 — typically referred by its flight identifier PS752 — was caused by apparently accidental targeting by Iranian antiaircraft defenses in the hours surrounding a series of rocket strikes by Iran against U.S. positions in Iraq.
While Iran denies the allegation, officials who’ve spoken with reporters indicate that evidence exists demonstrating how the flight was targeted and received damage that prompted the plane to turn back toward its point of origin before crashing northwest of the Iranian capital.
As those authorities were sharing those conclusions, though, a team of investigators working collaboratively online had already published information strongly suggesting that this was precisely the plane's fate. What's more, that analysis was bolstered by photos and videos showing where the plane crashed, the moment of the missile strike and even an image of the possible missile itself.