How KAL 007 Was Lost

Questions are always arising as to how Korean Air Lines Flight 007 could have gone so disastrously astray.  Bert Schlossberg discusses this issue at length in his book Rescue 007: The Untold Story of KAL 007 and Its Survivors.  Below is an excerpt from the book that gives the best explanation that we have as to how KAL 007 was lost.  You will find this article both interesting and unsettling.  It includes such bits of information as the fact that the air traffic controller in Anchorage recorded all flights on the night of August 31, 1983 EXCEPT for KAL 007 and its companion flight, KAL 015.  It gives the known technical details of how the flight was navigated and points out the serious anomalies that should have alerted the crew to the fact that they were off course.  It discusses how that night was one of the worst times for a passenger liner to stray into Soviet airspace over Kamchatka as the Soviets were preparing tests of their ICBMs in contravention to signed treaties and how US intelligence was monitoring these tests and should have monitored the complete flight of the Boeing 747.

This article also contains a transcript of the conversation between top Soviet commanders as they discuss the plane--including the orders to shoot it down even if it is outside Soviet airspace.

The information presented here is factual. There are many theories as to why things happened the way they did. Any attempt to understand what really happened must include reading this article.

• How KAL 007 Was Lost (По-Русски)

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Last modified: March 10, 2009

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