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Sep 2, 1983 · Following is a list of 240 passengers aboard Korean Air Lines Flight 7. The airline issued the list from its Los Angeles office. It contains names of passengers as they were given...
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KE007/KAL007) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska. On September 1, 1983, the flight was shot down by a Soviet Sukhoi Su-15 interceptor aircraft.
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- John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, U.S.
- Overview
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- Conspiracy theories
Korean Air Lines flight 007, flight of a passenger jet that was shot down by Soviet air-to-air missiles on September 1, 1983, near Sakhalin Island, Russia, killing all 269 persons on board. It was en route to Seoul from Anchorage, Alaska, when it strayed more than 200 miles (322 km) from its scheduled path and entered Soviet airspace. Soviet author...
Korean Air Lines (KAL) flight 007 originated in New York City and stopped in Anchorage to refuel. At approximately 4:00 am local time on August 31, 1983, the plane, a Boeing 747, departed. Shortly thereafter the aircraft crossed the International Date Line, and the day changed to September 1. By this time the plane’s path was already deviating to the north, and some three hours into its flight the aircraft appeared on Russian radar. At the same time, a U.S. Air Force plane, a Boeing 707, was on a reconnaissance mission nearby, attempting to monitor the Soviet testing of a missile on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was being tracked by the Soviets, but at some point the civilian aircraft was misidentified as the spy plane. Soviet fighter jets scrambled but failed to reach the South Korean aircraft before it cleared Kamchatka and flew over international waters.
Cold War Events
Truman Doctrine
March 12, 1947
Marshall Plan
April 1948 - December 1951
The incident had widespread fallout and increased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. U.S. officials immediately claimed that the Soviets had knowingly downed a civilian plane, and U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan decried it as “an act of barbarism.” Government officials continued to publicly promote this narrative, even after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the Soviets had likely mistaken the plane for a reconnaissance aircraft. U.S. authorities used the incident to stir anti-Soviet sentiment worldwide, especially as it was the second time Soviets had attacked a passenger plane; an incident involving another Korean Air Lines aircraft had occurred in 1978, but that plane had managed to make an emergency landing, and only two people died.
The Soviets, in turn, initially denied responsibility until the United States presented intercepted Soviet radio communications. Faced with such evidence, they admitted downing the plane but claimed that it had been conducting a spy mission for the United States. Although no corroboration was presented to support this assertion, the Soviets continued to claim that their response was justified. Among many Soviet officials, the incident was seen as a “political provocation carefully organized by the US special services.”
In October 1983 Soviets discovered the plane’s black box but kept its recovery secret. The United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) launched an investigation of the incident, but, with limited information, it was able to produce only an interim report later that year. One of the biggest mysteries was why the plane had strayed so far from its scheduled route. The ICAO produced two theories, both of which involved human error concerning the navigation system. One proposed explanation involved the autopilot being set to “heading” mode when it should have been on Inertial Navigation System (INS). On the former setting, the plane’s route would not have been adjusted for wind conditions, among other issues. The second theory concerned the pilot’s entering of a wrong number into the navigation system. The ICAO also held that there was no evidence to support the Soviet assertion that the passenger plane was on an intelligence-gathering mission, and it later condemned their “use of armed force.” Furthermore, the ICAO recommended an amendment (Article 3 bis) to the Convention on International Civil Aviation that banned the use of military weapons against civilian aircraft in flight; after it was ratified by the necessary number of member states, it went into effect in 1998.
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In 1992 the ICAO resumed its investigation after Russia agreed to release various materials, and the tapes from the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were turned over the following year. Later in 1993 the ICAO completed its investigation. It notably concluded that the theory involving the “heading” mode was the most likely explanation for the plane’s path. Either the pilots had failed to change the setting or the plane was too far off course when the INS mode was selected, causing it to fail to engage. The ICAO also found nothing in the recordings to suggest that the plane had been gathering intelligence.
The lack of definitive answers concerning KAL flight 007 contributed to the rise of numerous alternate theories. Some, for instance, claimed that the damaged plane actually landed in Russia and that the passengers and crew were imprisoned. Another theory suggested that the plane crashed during a shoot-out between Soviet and U.S. aircraft. Others be...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Nov 13, 2009 · On September 1, 1983, Korean Airlines (KAL) flight 007 was on the last leg of a flight from New York City to Seoul, with a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska. As it approached its final...
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Korean Air Flight 007 took off from New York City late on August 30th 1983, headed for the South Korean capital Seoul via a refuelling stop in Anchorage, Alaska. The flight carried 246 passengers and 23 crew members.
Feb 16, 2024 · Updated Feb 16, 2024. Retelling the Cold War tragedy of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, in which 269 innocent passengers and crew lost their lives after being shot down. Photo: Michel Gilliand | Wikimedia Commons. Korean Air. IATA/ICAO Code: KE/KAL. Airline Type: Full Service Carrier. Hub (s): Incheon International Airport. Year Founded: 1969.
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS. Korean Air Lines Flight 007 ( KE007 / KAL007) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska. On September 1, 1983, the flight was shot down by a Soviet Sukhoi Su-15 interceptor aircraft.
