Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (also known as KAL007 and KE007[note 1]) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage. On September 1, 1983, the airliner serving the flight was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor near Moneron Island, west of Sakhalin Island, in the Sea of Japan.
The interceptor's pilot was Major Gennadi Osipovich. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Lawrence McDonald, representative from Georgia in the United States House of Representatives. The aircraft was en route from Anchorage to Seoul when it flew through prohibited Soviet airspace around the time of a U.S. reconnaissance mission.
Former president Richard Nixon was to have been seated next to Larry McDonald on KAL 007 but decided not to go, according to the New York Post and TASS.[1]
The shooting of Korean Air Lines was one of the most tense moments of the Cold War. In the aftermath of the shooting, President Ronald Reagan made a presidential announcement saying that what the Soviet did was bad.[2] Reagan was angry of what happened and changed his mind of making peace with the Soviets.
President Reagan announced on September 16, 1983, that the Global Positioning System (GPS) would be made available for civilian use.
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
 South Korea |
82 | 23 | 105 |
 United States |
62 | 0 | 62 |
 Japan |
28 | 0 | 28 |
 Taiwan |
23 | 0 | 23 |
 Philippines |
16 | 0 | 16 |
 Hong Kong |
12 | 0 | 12 |
 Canada |
8 | 0 | 8 |
 Germany |
4 | 0 | 4 |
 Thailand |
5 | 0 | 5 |
 France |
3 | 0 | 3 |
 Indonesia |
3 | 0 | 3 |
 United Kingdom |
2 | 0 | 2 |
 Australia |
2 | 0 | 2 |
 Italy |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Vietnam |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Malaysia |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 India |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Iran |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Spain |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Switzerland |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Dominican Republic |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Sweden |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Ireland |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Mexico |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Brazil |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 South Africa |
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Portugal |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 246 | 23 | 269 |
References[change | change source]
- ↑ "Soviets Say Nixon Had Been Booked on Flight 007". Washington Post. 25 September 1983. Archived from the original on 27 October 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ↑ Reagan, Ronald (September 5, 1983). "Address to the Nation on the Soviet Attack on a Korean Civilian Airliner" (Press release). U Texas; United States Government. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
Notes[change | change source]
- ↑ KAL 007 was used by air traffic control, while the public flight booking system used KE 007
Other websites[change | change source]
- Soviet Air Force Transcripts Archived 2008-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, Airliners.net
- Bickel v. Korean Air Lines (case), Alt law, archived from the original on 2008-08-23, retrieved 2014-07-18.
- Hollie v. Korean Air Lines (case), Find law.
- "KAL Flight 007 25 years on", The First Post, UK.
- "Photos and first-person account of US-Soviet naval confrontation", USS Sterett, archived from the original on 2010-02-21, retrieved 2014-07-18.