Air Crash Investigation - Target Is Destroyed (S09E05)

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KAL 007, KE 007]) was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner that was shot down by Soviet interceptors on 1 September 1983, over the Sea of Japan, near Moneron Island just west of Sakhalin island. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Lawrence McDonald, a sitting member of the United States Congress. The aircraft was en route from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage when it strayed into prohibited Soviet airspace around the time of a planned missile test.
The Soviet Union initially denied knowledge of the incident, but later admitted shooting the aircraft down, claiming that it was on a spy mission. The Politburo said it was a deliberate provocation by the United States, to test the Soviet Union's military preparedness, or even to provoke a war. The United States accused the Soviet Union of obstructing search and rescue operations. The Soviet military suppressed evidence sought by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) investigation, notably the flight data recorders, which were eventually released eight years later after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The incident was one of the tensest moments of the Cold War, and resulted in an escalation of anti-Soviet sentiment, particularly in the United States. The opposing points of view on the incident were never fully resolved; consequently, several groups continue to dispute official reports and offer alternate theories of the event. The subsequent release of transcripts and flight recorders by the Russian Federation has addressed some details.

As a result of the incident, the United States altered tracking procedures for aircraft departing Alaska, while the interface of the autopilot used on airliners was redesigned to make it more ergonomic.[8] President Ronald Reagan ordered the U.S. military to make the developing Global Positioning System (GPS) available for civilian use so that navigational errors like that of KAL 007 could be averted in the future.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Air Crash Investigation
• Target is destroyed
• ACI
• Korean Air Lines
• Flight 007
• KAL 007
• KE 007
• Moneron Island
• Sea of Japan
• Lawrence McDonald
• Boeing 747-230B

[TheRobijas007]

not even the 007 number helped them...sad thing that this has never been prosecuted,and whoever did it,got away with it...

[GCarty80]

@sunnchilde

ObPedant: it wasn't a MiG, but a Sukhoi Su-15.

[skatechik2000]

i hav watched more air crash investigation in these last 2 days than in the last 2 months

[skatechik2000]

@NeosimianSapiens u should say that 2 my dad

[NeosimianSapiens]

@alonmerlin That incident alone did not cause a war, but it escalated tensions considerably. Those of us alive at the time felt the chill in US-Soviet relations. It didn't lead to WW-III but if some OTHER random accident had occurred in addition to this THEN it might have brought us to the tipping point.

It was nearly 30 years ago, but one need only say "Korean Airline Flight 007" and people my age will probably remember the incident and the attendant worry quite clearly.

[boiragirules]

fuckwitt russians!!!!

[sarkizmutafyan]

@katyhaigh And also JAL123, and the co-pilot of the Stansted crash is playing a passenger on Air France 358.

[katyhaigh]

Has anyone else noticed that the same guy is flying this Korean Airlines, as in the Stansted crash?

[alonmerlin]

i do not know how it felt to live in those years but could the crash case an all out war? can some one who lived during those years say what was the feeling of the people during this time?

[RufftaMan]

@TheCBKstudios like james oberg in the interview i think he just didn't want to believe he killed all those people by mistake.

imagine living with that the rest of your life.

i'm pretty sure in his version of the story he shot down the spy-plane, disregarding the fact it made it home safely (i assume).

but i can't blame him for that.

i actually felt pretty sorry for him.