Pentagon Admits Error in Downing Iranian Jet, Clears Captain, Crew

The Pentagon today admitted that the crew of the Vincennes made several mistakes in shooting down an Iranian airliner but concluded that the ship’s captain, based on what he had been told, “did what his nation expected of him.”

Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci told reporters that he had decided to withdraw a letter of censure proposed for the operations officer, identified only as Lt. Cmdr. Lustig, who was faulted for not adequately verifying information he was passing to the captain.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. William Crowe, said that an investigation of the July 3 tragedy found that Capt. Will C. Rogers III and his crew were acting under severe stress as the airliner approached them during a surface engagement with Iranian gunboats.

Mistaken for Fighter

The Vincennes mistook Iran Air Flight 655 for an F-14 fighter and shot it down, killing 290 people.

“The commanding officer never received the clear evidence that he thought he needed to establish that the Iranian aircraft had not come to participate in the ongoing surface action,” Crowe told a news conference.

Carlucci said that President Reagan had received the report and concurred in its findings. Reagan’s spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, said in a statement that “this tragic accident was ultimately the result of the conflict between Iran and Iraq, which we now hope is on the verge of settlement.”

Crowe cited these mistakes:

--A conclusion that the civilian plane was descending rather than ascending as it approached the Vincennes.

--A report that the jetliner was transmitting a signal identifying it as a military aircraft.

--A report that the plane was outside a commercial air corridor crossing the Persian Gulf.

Crowe said that taken individually, the mistakes “were not crucial to the . . . decision” to fire two Standard missiles at the aircraft.

“Even cumulatively, they do not change the picture in a decisive way,” he said.

“Our past experience in the Gulf, the intelligence available to the ship, and the rules of engagement all supported such a judgment” by the ship’s captain, he said.

“I believe that given the operating environment, Capt. Rogers acted reasonably and did what his nation expected of him in defense of his ship and crew.

“The main recommendation of the investigation was that no disciplinary action should be taken against any U.S. naval personnel associated with this incident.”

The report offered a wealth of new detail: The officers in the command and control center could hear gunfire from the surface battle outside, including the noise of bullets pinging off the metal hull; the ship was heeling at a 32-degree angle as the airliner approached, making it difficult for the men to stand, causing objects to fall off flat surfaces and lights to flicker.

In all, Crowe said, Rogers faced a series of problems that “he could not control or discount” in the seven minutes between the plane’s departure from an Iranian airfield and its destruction.

The report exonerated the sophisticated Aegis radar and tracking system aboard the Vincennes, one of the Navy’s much-lauded Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers.

Carlucci said a number of changes have been proposed as a result of the investigation, including modifying video displays.