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1.10.3.7 KE 015 reported passing NEEVA at 16:02 hours and requested FL 350. Having received clearance to climb to and maintain FL 350 KE 015 reported reaching this level at 16:06 hours. Through relay by KE 015, ARTCC then cleared KE 007 to climb to and maintain FL 330. At 16:10 hours KE 015 relayed a report that KE 007 had reached FL 330.
1.10.3.8
At 16:12 hours Anchorage ARTCC co-ordinated with Tokyo ACC the transfer of control of KE 007 and KE 015, which were estimating NIPPI at 17:08 hours and 17:14 hours, respectively.
1.10.3.9
At 17:09 hours KE 007 reported to Tokyo Radio on 5628 kHz that it had passed NIPPI at 17:07 hours, maintaining FL 330, and estimating NOKKA at 18:26 hours. At 18:15 hours KE 007 requested a climb to FL 350. At 18:20 hours KE 007 was cleared to climb to and maintain FL 350. At 18:23 hours KE 007 reported that it had reached FL 350.
1.10.3.10 While under radar control by Anchorage ARTCC KE 007 squawked the assigned SSR code 6072. According to the NOPAC Airspace Operations Manual, between 170°E and 150°E, flight crews should select a non-discrete SSR code, i.e. a four-digit code with the last two digits zero zero. According to information provided by Japan an aircraft, which was later identified as KE 007, was observed by the Wakkanai radar station between 18:12 and 18:29 hours squawking SSR code 1300. The reported selection of SSR code 1300 was as appropriate as any other code ending with zero zero. In addition, according to AIP Japan, code 1300 might be assigned to flights at or above FL 240 when leaving Tokyo radar coverage. When entering Tokyo radar controlled airspace in the vicinity of NOHO, the aircraft would have been required to squawk SSR code 2000 unless instructed otherwise by ATC.
1.11
Search and rescue
1.11.1
At 18:56 hours, thirty minutes after KE 007's estimated time over NOKKA and after repeated attempts to re-establish communication had failed, Tokyo ACC notified several ATS units and military units, via direct-speech links, of its inability to establish radio contact with KE 007, and requested them to conduct a communication search. These units included Sapporo ACC, the Japan Defence Agency (JDA), Tokyo (Narita) TWR and Yokota APP. At 19:05 hours the same information was transmitted via the AFTN to Anchorage and Honolulu ARTCCS. At 19:15 hours Tokyo ACC informed Tokyo rescue co-ordination centre (RCC) about the missing KE 007. Tokyo RCC was responsible for the search and rescue operations within the Tokyo search and rescue region, which coincided with Tokyo and Naha FIRs. At 19:22 hours Tokyo ACC declared an alerting phase in respect of KE 007 and transmitted an appropriate message to relevant units in Japan and the United States including Anchorage and Honolulu ARTCCs.
1.11.2
At 20:30 hours through relay via Sapporo ACC on a direct-speech circuit, Tokyo ACC inquired whether Khabarovsk ACC in the USSR had any information on the missing KE 007. At 21:50 hours Khabarovsk ACC replied that it had no information.
1.11.3
At 20:50 hours Tokyo RCC originated a message declaring a distress phase in respect of KE 007. This message was transmitted to Anchorage ARTCC and Anchorage/Elmendorf RCC, Honolulu RCC, Khabarovsk RCC and aeronautical fixed station, Taegu ACC and Seoul air traffic services reporting office (ARO), and to Korean Air Lines' offices in Anchorage, Tokyo and Seoul.