Yes if they really did shoot it down, I understand why. I am upset that they didn't tell us the truth when it happened. I'm so sad that these families now three years later have to go through all this pain again of their lost ones only now with the anger of this lie.
This is a good large scale example of a lie that I can show my kids how it's better to just tell the truth up front. As most of us know, the truth isn't always easy to say but if you told the truth it can never come back around to bite you in the butt like this one has.