Korean Air Flight 902

Korean Air Lines Flight 902

The plane after landing in the Soviet Union, with visible damage to its left wing.
Shootdown summary
Date	20 April 1978
Summary	Airliner shootdown
Site	near Loukhi, Karelian ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union 66°02.893′N 33°04.321′E / 66.048217°N 33.072017°E / 66.048217; 33.072017Coordinates: 66°02.893′N 33°04.321′E / 66.048217°N 33.072017°E / 66.048217; 33.072017
Passengers	97
Crew	12
Fatalities	2
Survivors	107
Aircraft type	Boeing 707-321B
Operator	Korean Air Lines
Registration	HL7429
Flight origin	Orly Airport Paris, France
Stopover	Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Anchorage, Alaska United States
Destination	Gimpo International Airport Seoul, South Korea

On 20 April 1978, Soviet air defense shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (KAL 902) near Murmansk, Soviet Union, after the civilian aircraft violated Soviet airspace and failed to respond to Soviet ground control and interceptors.Soviet Air Defence Forces initially identified it as part of the US air reconnaissance force, which carried out thousands of flights along Soviet borders annually at the time. Captain Alexander Bosov, pilot of the Sukhoi Su-15 that brought down Flight 902, saw Asian logogram characters on the tail of the Korean aircraft, and reported this to the ground control. Despite this, Vladimir Tsarkov, commander of the 21st Soviet Air Defence Corps, ordered Bosov to take down the plane, as the plane failed to respond to repeated orders to land, and was approaching the Soviet border with Finland. The Su-15 opened fire, forcing the plane to descend, and killing two of the 109 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 902. The plane made an emergency landing on the frozen Korpiyarvi lake (not to be confused with the Korpijärvi lake) near the Finnish border.

Flight 902 departed from Paris, France on a course to Seoul, South Korea. The plane’s only scheduled stop was in Anchorage, Alaska, USA where it would refuel and proceed to Seoul, avoiding Soviet airspace. As the plane passed over Alert on Ellesmere Island — located about 800 km (500 miles) from the North Pole — flight captain Kim Chang Ky (alternatively spelled Kyi or Kyu) suddenly changed his course and headed southeast toward Murmansk.