EASTERN DEPT
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
071 270 2105.
3
P.03
On 31 August 1983, a Korean Air Lines (KAL; Boeing 747, designated KE 007, departed John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, United States, on a one-stop scheduled flight for Kimpo International Airport, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The en-route stop occurred at Anchorage International Airport, Alaska, United States. At Anchorage, the aircraft was refuelled and serviced for the remainde: of the flight to Seoul and, in accordance with company practice, the flight and cabin crews were changed.
The flight departed at the planned time of departure which, in keeping with Korean Air Lines' procedure, was calculated for each KE 007 flight. The departure from Anchorage was flexible to ensure arrival in Seoul at the scheduled arrival time of 21:00 hours (06:00 hours local time). The actual departure time of 13:00 hours on 31 August would have resulted in an on-time arrival of KE 007 in Seoul, had the dight been completed in accordance with its flight plan.
On departing Anchorage, the flight had 269 persons on board consisting of 240 passengers, 3 flight crew members, 20 cabin attendants, and 6 crew members of KAL being repositioned to Seoul.
Soon after departure from Anchorage, Ki: 007 deviated to the right (north) of its direct track to Bethel. This deviation resulted in a progressively greater lateral displacement to the right of its planned route which, ultimately, resulted in its penetration of adjacent high seas airspace in flight information regions (FIRS) operated by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics USSR), as well as of sovereign USSR airspace overlying Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin Island and their surrounding territorial waters.
vidence was fou
from its planned route in spite of the fact that it continued for over five hours. According to representatives of the United States.
representatives of Japan,
The military radar installations of the
pese
According to
Approximately between 16:40 and 17:08 hours military aircraft operated by the USSR attempted 231 From to intercept KE 007 over Kamchatka Peninsula. The about 18:00 hours when KE 007 was approaching Sakhalin Island, USSR, the flight was intercepted by USSR military aircraft.
fired by the pilot of one of the USSR interceptor aircrant who had been directed by his ground commaro and control units, to shoot down an aircraft which thes
As a result of the attack. KE 007 collided with the sea and sank off the southwest coast of Sakhalin Island. There were no survivors. The Hight recorders, fragmentary pieces of the aircraft and PAS during a two- month period following the accident. In addition some Hotsam from the aircraft was dispersed by tidal currents and recovered later.
The
(CVR) and the EU BRASS
(DFDR) tapes were by the representatives
recovered by the USSR in 1983 and were
*Unless stated otherwise, all dates and times in this report are Co-ordinated Universe! Timė (UTC)
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