Korean Air Lines Flight 902

Korean Air Lines Flight 902
The plane after landing in the Soviet Union, with visible damage to its left wing
Shootdown
Date20 April 1978 (1978-04-20)
SummaryShot down by Soviet Union[1]
Sitenear Loukhi, Karelian ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
66°02′54″N 33°04′14″E / 66.04833°N 33.07056°E / 66.04833; 33.07056
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 707-321B
OperatorKorean Air Lines
IATA flight No.KE902
ICAO flight No.KAL902
Call signKOREAN AIR 902
RegistrationHL7429
Flight originOrly Airport, Paris, France
StopoverAnchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, United States
DestinationGimpo International Airport, Seoul, South Korea
Occupants109
Passengers97
Crew12
Fatalities2
Injuries88
Survivors107

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.

  1. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-321B HL7429 Korpijärvi Lake". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  2. ^ "The Worst, But Not The First." Time 122.11 (1983): 21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 November 2012.
  3. ^ "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.