KAL 007

Korean Air Lines Flight 007

HL7442, the aircraft that was shot down, parked at Honolulu International Airport on September 15, 1981
Shootdown summary
Date	September 1, 1983
Summary	Shootdown by Soviet military
Site	Near Moneron Island, west of Sakhalin Island, Soviet Union 46°34′N 141°17′E / 46.567°N 141.283°E / 46.567; 141.283 (KAL007)Coordinates: 46°34′N 141°17′E / 46.567°N 141.283°E / 46.567; 141.283 (KAL007)
Passengers	246
Crew	23
Fatalities	269 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Boeing 747-230B
Operator	Korean Air Lines
Registration	HL7442
Flight origin	John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, U.S.
Stopover	Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.
Destination	Gimpo International Airport, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (also known as KAL007 and KE007) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska. On September 1, 1983, the South Korean airliner serving the flight was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor. The Boeing 747 airliner was en route from Anchorage to Seoul, but deviated off course from its original planned route and flew through Soviet prohibited airspace around the time of a U.S. aerial reconnaissance mission. The Soviet Air Defence Forces treated the unidentified aircraft as an intruding U.S. spy plane, and proceeded to destroy it with air-to-air missiles, after firing warning shots which were likely not seen by the KAL pilots. The Korean airliner eventually crashed in the sea near Moneron Island west of Sakhalin in the Sea of Japan. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Larry McDonald, a Representative from Georgia in the United States House of Representatives. The Soviets found the wreckage under the sea on September 15, and found the in-flight recorders in October, but kept this information secret until 1993.

The Soviet Union initially denied knowledge of the incident, but later admitted shooting down the aircraft, claiming that it was on a MASINT spy mission. The Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 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 White House accused the Soviet Union of obstructing search and rescue operations. The Soviet Armed Forces suppressed evidence sought by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) investigation, such as the flight data recorders, which were released eight years later after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.