&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Aero_Oy-n_Junkers_Ju_52-3m_%22Kaleva%22_(32764406025).jpg) Kaleva at Helsinki-Malmi Airport in 1938 | |
| Shootdown | |
|---|---|
| Date | 14 June 1940 |
| Summary | Airliner shootdown |
| Site | Baltic Sea, near Keri island, Estonia 59°47′1″N 25°01′6″E / 59.78361°N 25.01833°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Junkers Ju 52 |
| Aircraft name | Kaleva |
| Operator | Aero O/Y |
| Registration | OH-ALL |
| Flight origin | Ülemiste Airport |
| Destination | Helsinki-Malmi Airport |
| Occupants | 9 |
| Passengers | 7 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 9 |
| Survivors | 0 |
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Aero_Oy_Junkers_JU52_OH-ALL_%22Kavela%22_und_Piloten.jpg)
Kaleva was a civilian Junkers Ju 52 passenger airplane belonging to the Finnish carrier Aero O/Y. On 14 June 1940, as Flight 1631 from Tallinn in Estonia to Helsinki in Finland, it was shot down over the Gulf of Finland by two combat aircraft of the Soviet military and drowned near the Estonian Keri island, killing all nine on board.[1] The incident occurred during the Interim Peace between the Soviet Union and Finland, and at the outset of the Soviet occupation of Estonia. Kaleva was the second civilian passenger airplane ever to be attacked midair, and the first airliner in history to be shot down in flight, by hostile aircraft.
The airplane's wreck was found on 5 June 2024 by Estonian unmanned underwater vehicles near the Keri lighthouse in Estonian territorial waters.[2] The wreck is located at a depth of 71 to 76 meters.[2]
- ^ Niku, Risto (2007). Kalevan kuolemanlento (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Edita. p. 11. ISBN 978-951-37-4965-1.
- ^ a b "Itämeri | Matkustajalentokone Kaleva on löytynyt – oli kateissa yli 80 vuotta". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.