Why was Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shot down?
Korean Air Lines’ regularly scheduled KE007/KAL007 flight connected Anchorage, Alaska with New York City and Seoul. A Soviet Sukhoi Su-15 fighter brought the aircraft down on September 1, 1983. A Boeing 747 was traveling from Anchorage to Seoul when, due to a crew navigational error, it deviated off course and entered Soviet-restricted area shortly before…
Korean Air Lines’ regularly scheduled KE007/KAL007 flight connected Anchorage, Alaska with New York City and Seoul. A Soviet Sukhoi Su-15 fighter brought the aircraft down on September 1, 1983. A Boeing 747 was traveling from Anchorage to Seoul when, due to a crew navigational error, it deviated off course and entered Soviet-restricted area shortly before an American aerial surveillance mission.
After firing warning shots that the KAL pilots almost certainly missed, the Soviet Air Forces believed the unidentified aircraft to be an American spy plane encroaching on their territory. They then used air-to-air missiles to destroy it. In the end, the Korean Airliner went down not far from Moneron Island in the Sea of Japan, west of Sakhalin.
One of the 269 people killed on board was a representative of the United States named Larry McDonald. Two weeks after discovering the debris on September 15, the Soviet Union discovered the flight recorders; however, this discovery wasn’t made public until 1992.
Why was Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shot down?
The slower pace caused the chasing fighter to miss the Boeing, which the Soviet pilot misunderstood for an evasive action. When the order to shoot it down was given, KAL 007 was about to depart Soviet airspace for the second time.
Around 18:26 UTC, General Kornukov and ground controllers exerted pressure on the lead fighter to return to a position from which it could fire two K-8 air-to-air missiles at the aircraft (NATO reporting name: AA-3 “Anab”).
