10 Star Trek Episodes Based On Real-Life Events
3. Rules Of Engagement
Rules of Engagement sees Worf being put on trial by the Klingon Empire for the accidental destruction of a civilian passenger ship. While there is no question that a ship has been destroyed, Starfleet insists that it strayed into the line of fire, therefore absolving Worf of guilt. The Klingons assert that Worf had plenty of time to hold, check that the ship was indeed the enemy fighter he believed it to be, then act accordingly.
The lawsuit in the episode is based directly on the Iran Air Flight 655 case from the 8th July 1988. The USS Vincennes, under the command of William C. Rogers III, shot down an Airbus A330 that was flying along its usual route from Tehran to Dubai, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard.
Rogers insisted that they had attempted to contact the aeroplane ten times, falsely believing it to be an enemy-controlled F-14, which the US had supplied to Iran during the eighties. Receiving no reply, they fired two missiles directly at the plane. The Iranian government on the other hand were adamant that the flight had been identifying itself using IFF squawks in Mode III, which clearly identified it as a civilian vessel, rather than Mode II which was used by the military.
Though the US continued to state that they believed they were acting in self-defence, it received huge backlash for the incident, with President Reagan issuing a statement of sympathy and regret to the Iranian people.