KAL 007 Shot Down: Cold War Tensions Surge
Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747 carrying 269 passengers and crew from New York to Seoul via Anchorage, was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor on September 1, 1983, after straying into prohibited airspace over Sakhalin Island. Among the dead was U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald of Georgia. The Soviet Union initially denied shooting down the aircraft, then claimed it was a spy plane. Flight recorder data, recovered in 1992, showed the crew had programmed their navigation system incorrectly, causing them to drift 300 miles off course. President Reagan called the shootdown "a crime against humanity" and ordered the GPS satellite system made available for civilian use, precisely to prevent such navigational errors.
September 1, 1983
43 years ago
Key Figures & Places
United States
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Soviet Union
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Soviet
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Cold War
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United States Congress
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Larry McDonald
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Korean Air Flight 007
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Congressmen
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Lawrence McDonald
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Korean Air Lines Flight 007
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Cold War
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Korean Air Lines Flight 007
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Soviet Union
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United States Congress
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Larry McDonald
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Uzbekistan
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Korean Air
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Fighter aircraft
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Venus
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Sputnik 20
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31 de agosto
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Soviet Air Forces
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Sakhalin
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Boeing
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Geschichte Usbekistans
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Boeing 747
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South Korea
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