 The plane after landing in the Soviet Union, with visible damage to its left wing | |
| Shootdown | |
|---|---|
| Date | 20 April 1978 |
| Summary | Shot down by Soviet Union[1] |
| Site | near Loukhi, Karelian ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union 66°02′54″N 33°04′14″E / 66.04833°N 33.07056°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-321B |
| Operator | Korean Air Lines |
| IATA flight No. | KE902 |
| ICAO flight No. | KAL902 |
| Call sign | KOREAN AIR 902 |
| Registration | HL7429 |
| Flight origin | Orly Airport, Paris, France |
| Stopover | Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, United States |
| Destination | Gimpo International Airport, Seoul, South Korea |
| Occupants | 109 |
| Passengers | 97 |
| Crew | 12 |
| Fatalities | 2 |
| Injuries | 88 |
| Survivors | 107 |
Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (KAL 902) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage. On 20 April 1978, the Soviet air defense shot down the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 707, near Murmansk, Soviet Union, after the aircraft violated Soviet airspace.[2][3]
Flight 902 had veered off course over the Arctic Ocean and entered Soviet airspace near the Kola Peninsula, whereupon it was intercepted and fired upon by a Soviet fighter jet. The incident killed two of the 109 passengers and crew members aboard and forced the plane to make an emergency landing on the frozen Korpijärvi Lake.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-321B HL7429 Korpijärvi Lake". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- ^ "The Worst, But Not The First." Time 122.11 (1983): 21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 November 2012.
- ^ "The Mystery Of Flight 902 Why Did A South Korean Jet Make a 180° Turn over the Arctic?." Time 111.18 (1978): 35. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 November 2012.