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It was
November of 1980, I was in a bus (Mihan Tour) traveling from
Turkey going to Tabriz. It was about 3:00 o'clock on a clear
and sunny afternoon, when I heard from the radio we're under
Iraqi aerial attack and all cars on the road should immediately
pull to the side. So naturally I scanned the sky to see the
Iraqi planes, and sure enough about 4 miles toward the south
I saw two aircraft. At the same time our bus driver stopped
and we happen to be next to Tabriz Airport runway which houses
the 2nd Tactical air base, there I saw two F-4E turning onto
the runway with the canopy not fully closed, I heard the afterburner
kicking in. Following the path of the runway the lead Phantom
took off in a 45 degree angle but my eyes were glued to the
wingman, second F-4, as he did what is known as Viking take
off. Almost a 90 degree angle and immediately turned to its
side! About a quarter of a mile I saw white smoke coming from
the F-4, thinking something was wrong not realizing that it
fired a missile ( educated guess it was an AIM-9 sidewinder)
following the trail smoke of the missile, and seeing Iraqi
plane twist and turn trying to avoid the missile, bam!!! A
hit on Iraqi plane (later found out it was a MIG-21) shortly
after I saw a white parachute in that direction, which indicated
the Iraqi pilot had ejected. Everyone was very emotional and
people start running toward the approximate landing zone of
the Iraqi pilot with what ever tool they can find (to use
as a weapon ). Soon I heard the radio announcer pleading with
the people not to kill or harm the Iraqi pilot until authorities
arrive. Mean while the second Iraqi plane was chased by the
other F-4 and that was quickly followed by a sonic boom from
the Iraqi aircraft, I guess he knew not to stick around!
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