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Korean Airlines Flight 007 (view source)

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Soviet air defense forces had tracked the aircraft when it first entered airspace over the Kamchatka Peninsula, attempting first to use radio; fighters were scrambled and fired several bursts in front of the plane's nose. Due to the lack of tracer rounds in the Soviet fighter's ammunition, the pilot of KAL 007 was unaware of the bursts. The fighters were ordered back to base when KAL 007 left Soviet airspace over the Sea of Okhotst.

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When KAL 007 re-entered Soviet airspace, this time over Sakhalin Island, fighters were again scrambled with orders to "destroy the target." The Commander of the Soviet Far East District Air Defense Forces, General Valeri Kamensky,<ref>[http://www.rescue007.org/kaminski.htm Rescue 007: Kamenski Interview]</ref> was ~~adament~~ that KAL 007 was to be destroyed even over neutral waters but only after positive identification showed it not to be a passenger plane. His subordinate, General Anatoli Kornukov, commander of Sokol Air base, was ~~adament~~ that there was no need to make positive identification as "the intruder" had already flown over Kamchatka.

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When KAL 007 re-entered Soviet airspace, this time over Sakhalin Island, fighters were again scrambled with orders to "destroy the target." The Commander of the Soviet Far East District Air Defense Forces, General Valeri Kamensky,<ref>[http://www.rescue007.org/kaminski.htm Rescue 007: Kamenski Interview]</ref> was adamant that KAL 007 was to be destroyed even over neutral waters but only after positive identification showed it not to be a passenger plane. His subordinate, General Anatoli Kornukov, commander of Sokol Air base, was adamant that there was no need to make positive identification as "the intruder" had already flown over Kamchatka.

[[Image:Kornukov2.gif|General Anatolie Kornukov|left|thumb|150px]]

[[Image:Osipovich1983.jpg|Maj. Gennadie Osipovich (1983)|left|thumb|100px]]

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==="I knew this was a civilian plane"===

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Until 1996, there had been a controversy concerning the identity of KAL 007 by the Soviets as a civilian passenger plane, rather than a U.S. RC-135 ~~Reconnaisance~~ plane. But that ended with the ~~acknowledgement~~ of Gennadie Osipovich, the SU-15 Interceptor pilot, that he indeed knew he was shooting down a civilian passenger plane and that he did see its navigation lights blinking. '''"From the flashing lights and the configuration of the windows, he recognized the aircraft as a civilian type of plane,....'I saw two rows of windows and knew that this was a Boeing,' he said. 'I knew this was a civilian plane. But for me this meant nothing. It is easy to turn a civilian type of plane into one for military use.'"'''(New York Times, Dec. 9, 1996).

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Until 1996, there had been a controversy concerning the identity of KAL 007 by the Soviets as a civilian passenger plane, rather than a U.S. RC-135 Reconnaissance plane. But that ended with the acknowledgment of Gennadie Osipovich, the SU-15 Interceptor pilot, that he indeed knew he was shooting down a civilian passenger plane and that he did see its navigation lights blinking. '''"From the flashing lights and the configuration of the windows, he recognized the aircraft as a civilian type of plane,....'I saw two rows of windows and knew that this was a Boeing,' he said. 'I knew this was a civilian plane. But for me this meant nothing. It is easy to turn a civilian type of plane into one for military use.'"'''(New York Times, Dec. 9, 1996).

At 18:26 GMT two air-to-air missiles from an [[Sukhoi|SU-15]] Flagon piloted by Major Gennadi Osipovich were fired at the jumbo jet<ref>See [http://www.rescue007.org/shootdown.htm Rescue 007:The Shootdown] for the combined U.S. electronic intercept and Soviet military communications of the actual shoot-down with photos of key personnel.</ref>, causing it to spiral down from 35,000 feet and after a 12 minute descent crash into the sea near Moneron Island.

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===U.S. Electronic Intercept of Shootdown in Progress===

[[Image:Sukhoi15.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Sukhoi-15 TM interceptor]]

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The following is the actual shootdown transmissions from the Sukhoi-15 as intercepted by the U.S. (NSA), in combination with the commands from Soviet Combat Air Control handed over by the Russian Federation ("Transcript of Communications. USSR Air Defence Command Centres on Sakhalin Island" of Information Paper 1. ICAO, 1993)

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The following is the actual shootdown transmissions from the Sukhoi-15 as intercepted by the U.S. (NSA), in combination with the commands from Soviet Combat Air Control handed over by the Russian Federation ("Transcript of Communications. USSR Air Defence Command Centres on Sakhalin Island" of Information Paper 1. ICAO, 1993)

NSA Electronic intercepts have minute and second specified.

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'''17:53 GMT''' - First documented order for shootdown. General Anatoli Kornukov, Commander of Sokol Air base on Sakhalin to the command post of General Valeri Kamenski, Commander of Air Defense Forces for the Far East Military District, “…simply destroy [it] even if it is over neutral waters? Are the orders to destroy it over neutral waters? Oh, well.” (ICAO "93, Information Paper No.1, 101)

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'''18:11 GMT''' - Maj. Gennadie Osipovich in his Su-15 interceptor has been sent up to intercept the "intruder" and now views KAL 007 both visually and on his screen. Air ~~Contoller~~ Titovnin: "Can you see the target, 805 (call sign for Osipovich)?" I see both visually and on the screen". Titovnin: "Roger, report lock-on". (ICAO '93, Transcript of Communications, pg. 62)

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'''18:11 GMT''' - Maj. Gennadie Osipovich in his Su-15 interceptor has been sent up to intercept the "intruder" and now views KAL 007 both visually and on his screen. Air Controller Titovnin: "Can you see the target, 805 (call sign for Osipovich)?" I see both visually and on the screen". Titovnin: "Roger, report lock-on". (ICAO '93, Transcript of Communications, pg. 62)

'''18:15 GMT''' - KE007 requested FL [flight level] 350 [35,000 feet](ICAO Report, Appendix D, page D-3)

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'''18:26:06-11 GMT''' - First words after attack of Pilot and Co-Pilot: Captain Chun- "What happened?". First Officer Son- "What?". Chun- "Retard throttles." Son- "Engines normal, sir." Indicating that Maj. Osipovich's heat seeking missile did not destroy any of the 4 engines. Son will again report engines normal at 18:26:45

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'''18:26:13 GMT''' - Cabin Altitude Warning Alarm sounds indicating decompression due to missile shrapnel puncturing cabin. The fact that it sounded (CVR) 11 seconds after missile ~~detonatation~~ indicates that total area of rupture damage to cabin is 1 3/4 square feet. (ICAO ,93, pg. 54)

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'''18:26:13 GMT''' - Cabin Altitude Warning Alarm sounds indicating decompression due to missile shrapnel puncturing cabin. The fact that it sounded (CVR) 11 seconds after missile detonation indicates that total area of rupture damage to cabin is 1 3/4 square feet. (ICAO ,93, pg. 54)

'''18:26 GMT''' - Immediate Soviet awareness that target is not destroyed. Lt. Col Novoseltski: "Well, what is happening, what is the matter, who guided him in, he locked on, why didn't he shoot it down?" (ICAO ;93, Information paper No. 1, pg. 88)

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'''18:27:04 - 18:27:14 GMT''' - Captain Chun brings up KAL 007' nose for 10 seconds stabilizing at pre-detonation altitude of 35000,(ICAO '93, Bureau- Enquetes - Paris [ICAO subcontract], Chart 8, Pg. 93)

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'''18:27:10 - 18:27:25 GMT''' - KAL 007 sends to Tokyo Radio transmission from KAL 007. "Korean Air zero zero seven ... (unintelligible) ... rapid compressions ... (unintelligible) ... descending to one zero thousand [10,000 feet]." (ICAO Report page 43) This message sent by High Frequency Radio 1., antenna located on left wing tip, indicating both that Maj. Osipovich was wrong when he stated that his missile had taken off the left wing and that the heat seeking missile had missed its mark. "The HF 1 radio aerial of the aircraft was positioned in the left wing tip suggesting that the left wing tip was intact at this time. Also, the aircraft's ~~manoeuvres~~ after the attack did not indicate ~~externsive~~ damage to the left wing." (ICAO '93 report, pg. 39, 1.16.1.6).

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'''18:27:10 - 18:27:25 GMT''' - KAL 007 sends to Tokyo Radio transmission from KAL 007. "Korean Air zero zero seven ... (unintelligible) ... rapid compressions ... (unintelligible) ... descending to one zero thousand [10,000 feet]." (ICAO Report page 43) This message sent by High Frequency Radio 1., antenna located on left wing tip, indicating both that Maj. Osipovich was wrong when he stated that his missile had taken off the left wing and that the heat seeking missile had missed its mark. "The HF 1 radio aerial of the aircraft was positioned in the left wing tip suggesting that the left wing tip was intact at this time. Also, the aircraft's maneuvers after the attack did not indicate extensive damage to the left wing." (ICAO '93 report, pg. 39, 1.16.1.6).

'''18:27:20 GMT''' - At 1 minute and 44 seconds into the post-missile-detonation phase of flight which lasts for 12 minutes, both the KAL 007's CVR and DFDR tapes handed over by the Russians simultaneously cease their recorded material. These are the last recorded words from the CVR -

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'''18:38 GMT''' - KAL 007 disappeared from the radar screen (approximately 12 minutes after the initial attack). Soviet radar personnel stationed at Komsomolsk-na-Amura on the Siberian maritime reported KAL 007 disappearing from radar screen at 1,000 ft. altitude due to radar inability to track below that altitude.

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Soviet ships head for anticipated site that KAL 007 would reach the water while the aircraft was in the air. Izvestia testimony of a Soviet Naval Specialist, "When we learned that the aircraft had been attacked, and that weapons had been used, we began to ~~analyse~~ when it might possibly come down. Ships were ordered to the anticipated area. Several ships headed there at once at full speed..."

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Soviet ships head for anticipated site that KAL 007 would reach the water while the aircraft was in the air. Izvestia testimony of a Soviet Naval Specialist, "When we learned that the aircraft had been attacked, and that weapons had been used, we began to analyze when it might possibly come down. Ships were ordered to the anticipated area. Several ships headed there at once at full speed..."

'''18:38:37 GMT''' - The first Soviet support fighter pilot says: "I don't see anything in this area. I just looked." The Soviet support interceptors, with fuel low, return to their base without having sighted KAL 007 (ICAO Report, Appendix D, pages D-3 and D-4).

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'''18:47 GMT''' - First ICAO documented Soviet SAR (Search and Rescue) mission: involving the KGB Border Guard boats and rescue helicopters (Khomutovo air base). " Lt. Col. Novoseltski: prepare whatever helicopters there are . Rescue helicopters. Lt. Col. Titovnin:Rescue? Lt. Col. Novoseltski: Yes..." Titovnin: "Novoaleksandrovska must be brought to readiness and Khomutovo. The border guards and KGB are at Khomutovo." (ICAO, '93, Information Paper no. 1., pg. 93)

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'''18:55 GMT''' - Second SAR mission: in addition to the ~~borderguards~~ and helicopters, civilian ships "near" Moneron were sent to Moneron itself. General Strogov (Deputy Commander oif Far East Military District): "The border guards. What ships do we have near Moneron Island, if they are civilian. send [them] there immediately."(ICAO, '93, Information Papes No. 1., pages 95,96)

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'''18:55 GMT''' - Second SAR mission: in addition to the border guards and helicopters, civilian ships "near" Moneron were sent to Moneron itself. General Strogov (Deputy Commander oif Far East Military District): "The border guards. What ships do we have near Moneron Island, if they are civilian. send [them] there immediately."(ICAO, '93, Information Papes No. 1., pages 95,96)

==Flight Data Recorder Chart showing the regaining of control of KAL 007==

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This ICAO graphing of the deciphered Digital Flight Data Recorder of KAL 007's first minute and 44 seconds of post attack flight shows the regaining of control by Capt Chun. Following the '''"altitude"''' and '''"pitch"''' lines, Captain Chun's regaining control is evident through the immediate 113 second arc upward and dive downward, then the 10 second pull-up taking KAL 007 to pre missile attack altitude, and then the beginning gradual descent. Note the sharp decrease in '''"acceleration"''' as Capt. Chun levels off from the pull up - ~~belieing~~ the Media descriptions that KAL 007 uncontrollably "plunged", "dived", "hurtled down", "cartwheeled", etc., to it's destruction after it was hit.

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This ICAO graphing of the deciphered Digital Flight Data Recorder of KAL 007's first minute and 44 seconds of post attack flight shows the regaining of control by Capt Chun. Following the '''"altitude"''' and '''"pitch"''' lines, Captain Chun's regaining control is evident through the immediate 113 second arc upward and dive downward, then the 10 second pull-up taking KAL 007 to pre missile attack altitude, and then the beginning gradual descent. Note the sharp decrease in '''"acceleration"''' as Capt. Chun levels off from the pull up - belying the Media descriptions that KAL 007 uncontrollably "plunged", "dived", "hurtled down", "cartwheeled", etc., to it's destruction after it was hit.

==Missile damage to people and plane==

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'''What can be learned of the damage and lack of damage to KAL 007 is derived from its deciphered Black Box (Cockpit Voice Recorder and Digital Flight Data Recorder) tapes for the duration of the first minute and 44 seconds of its post detonation flight of at least 12 minutes, and from the Soviet real time communiques and radar trackings for the remainder of its flight .'''

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'''What can be learned of the damage and lack of damage to KAL 007 is derived from its deciphered Black Box (Cockpit Voice Recorder and Digital Flight Data Recorder) tapes for the duration of the first minute and 44 seconds of its post detonation flight of at least 12 minutes, and from the Soviet real time communiques and radar trackings for the remainder of its flight .'''

'''In a two-second interval, the Soviet pilot launched two R-98 (ANAB) air-to-air medium range missiles. The second missile, a heat seeker, was designed to “home in” onto the exhaust of aircraft engines, exploding on contact. As the International Civil Aviation Organization analysis will show, this missile missed.'''

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''"The interceptor pilot [Osipovich] stated that the first missile hit near the tail, while the second missile took off half the left wing of the aircraft." (ICAO '93 report, pg. 39, 1.16.1.5)''' ''"The interceptor's pilot's statement that the second missile took of half of the left wing was probably incorrect. The missiles were fired with a two-second interval and would have detonated at an equal interval. The first detonated at 18:26:02 hours. The last radio transmissions from KE007 to Tokyo Radio were between 18:26:57 and 18:27:15 hours using HF1 [High Frequency]. The HF 1 radio aerial of the aircraft was positioned in the left wing tip suggesting that the left wing tip was intact at this time. Also, the aircraft's ~~manoeuvres~~ after the attack did not indicate ~~externsive~~ damage to the left wing''." (ICAO '93 report, pg. 39, 1.16.1.6).

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''"The interceptor pilot [Osipovich] stated that the first missile hit near the tail, while the second missile took off half the left wing of the aircraft." (ICAO '93 report, pg. 39, 1.16.1.5)''' ''"The interceptor's pilot's statement that the second missile took of half of the left wing was probably incorrect. The missiles were fired with a two-second interval and would have detonated at an equal interval. The first detonated at 18:26:02 hours. The last radio transmissions from KE007 to Tokyo Radio were between 18:26:57 and 18:27:15 hours using HF1 [High Frequency]. The HF 1 radio aerial of the aircraft was positioned in the left wing tip suggesting that the left wing tip was intact at this time. Also, the aircraft's maneuvers after the attack did not indicate extensive damage to the left wing''." (ICAO '93 report, pg. 39, 1.16.1.6).

In addition, the co-pilot reported to Capt. Chun twice during the flight after the heat seeker missile's detonation, ''"Engines normal, sir."''

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===Capabilities and Damage to Hydraulics===

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With only one of the four redundancy designed hydraulic systems fully operational (making control difficult, but by no means impossible), and with wing flaps up, “control was reduced to the right inboard aileron and the innermost of the spoiler section on each side.”G. Norris and M. Wagner in Boeing (MBT Publishing, Osceolo, WI 1998) explain (pg. 128) the safety benefits of multiple redundant hydraulic systems for the Boeing 747, '''"The hydraulics provided actuation for all the primary flight controls; all secondary flight controls (except leading edge flaps); and landing gear retraction, extension, gear steering, and wheel braking. Systems 1 and 4 could be used for all purposes [KAL 007's hydraulic system no. 4 was undamaged], while systems 2 and 3 were normally used for flight control only... System 4 also had a third electrical power source. Each primary flight control axis received power from all four hydraulic systems."'''

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[[Image:Soviet intelligence ships.jpg|Conserver, Narragansett, Alpinist, Moma. Sea of Japan. A Soviet Alpinist class intelligence ship and a Soviet Moma class intelligence collection ship shadow the fleet tug USNS Narragansett (T-ATF-167) and the USS Conserver (ARS-39) during salvage operations for downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007. Official U.S. Navy photo by PH2 Paul Soutar (Released)|right|thumb|350px]]

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==American response==<!~~---------~~--I think there are tense problems with this paragraph, but I leave it to writer's discretion~~-----------~~-->

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==American response==

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Initially the news flashed in the early morning hours of September 1 would report that KAL 007 had disappeared over the Pacific; it would be a matter of hours that the world would know something more ominous. President Reagan, vacationing at his California ranch, would cut it short and fly to Washington. Just before boarding Air Force One, Reagan hinted that the actions by the Soviets were somewhat worse than their invasion of Afghanistan in 1979: "While events in Afghanistan and elsewhere have left few illusions about the willingness of the Soviet Union to advance its interests through violence and intimidation, all of us had hoped that certain irreducible standards of civilized behavior nonetheless obtained," he declared. "But this event shocks the sensibilities of people everywhere...What can we think of a regime that so broadly trumpets its vision of peace and global disarmament and yet so callously and quickly commits a terrorist act to sacrifice the lives of innocent human beings?" [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926169,00.html]

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Initially the news flashed in the early morning hours of September 1 would report that KAL 007 had disappeared over the Pacific; it would be a matter of hours that the world would know something more ominous. President Reagan, vacationing at his California ranch, would cut it short and fly to Washington. Just before boarding Air Force One, Reagan hinted that the actions by the Soviets were somewhat worse than their invasion of Afghanistan in 1979: "While events in Afghanistan and elsewhere have left few illusions about the willingness of the Soviet Union to advance its interests through violence and intimidation, all of us had hoped that certain irreducible standards of civilized behavior nonetheless obtained," he declared. "But this event shocks the sensibilities of people everywhere...What can we think of a regime that so broadly trumpets its vision of peace and global disarmament and yet so callously and quickly commits a terrorist act to sacrifice the lives of innocent human beings?" <ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926169,00.html</ref>

Secretary of State George Shultz would have a meeting in Madrid, Spain later in the week with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko on the subject of arms control. For the previous few months the Reagan administration felt that things were opening up between the United States and the Soviet Union; the shooting of KAL 007 set things back. Instead of talking arms control, Shultz made heated demands of Gromyko as to what happened to the plane. Jeane Kirkpatrick, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and at the behest of Reagan, placed a large television in the Security Council and played the recorded tapes of the fighter pilots and ground control for the world to hear:

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The Soviet delegation had their backs turned towards the screen even as they repeated the ''Tass'' statement on the loss of the plane.

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Reagan would spend much of two days drafting a carefully-prepared speech which he presented on national television September 5. Calling it a "[[crime against humanity]]" that had "absolutely no justification, either legal or moral," he used the speech as an indictment of the Soviets in the court of public opinion, using the word "massacre" six times to describe it. Reagan asserted in a key passage "This attack was not just against ourselves or the Republic of Korea. This was the Soviet Union against the world and the moral precepts which guide human relations among people everywhere." [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954035-2,00.html]

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Reagan would spend much of two days drafting a carefully-prepared speech which he presented on national television September 5. Calling it a "[[crime against humanity]]" that had "absolutely no justification, either legal or moral," he used the speech as an indictment of the Soviets in the court of public opinion, using the word "massacre" six times to describe it. Reagan asserted in a key passage "This attack was not just against ourselves or the Republic of Korea. This was the Soviet Union against the world and the moral precepts which guide human relations among people everywhere." <ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954035-2,00.html</ref>

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Searches for the remains of the plane, believed lost in the waters to the southwest of Sakhalin Island, proved fruitless; U.S., Korean, and Japanese search vessels were harassed continually by Soviet vessels [http://www.rescue007.org/photo_essay.htm].

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Searches for the remains of the plane, believed lost in the waters to the southwest of Sakhalin Island, proved fruitless; U.S., Korean, and Japanese search vessels were harassed continually by Soviet vessels.</ref>http://www.rescue007.org/photo_essay.htm<ref>

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==Soviet actions==<!~~----------~~--Tense problems end here~~-------------~~-->

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==Soviet actions==

[[Image:TimecoverSept1983.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Security Council Meeting at the United Nations as covered by ''Time''; the photo shows a stunned council listening to the recorded tapes of the Soviet fighter pilots.]]

[[Image:RC-135.jpg|right|thumb|200px|RC-135 surveillance aircraft]]

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Then from the Kremlin came the order: the Soviets officially declared that KAL 007 was on a spy mission, and as a spy plane it was deliberately shot down. All of the talk of innocent passengers lost was dismissed as "hulla-balloo", and they said that they were prepared to do it again.

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Thinking that they may have made a bad public-relations impression, on September 9 Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov, the Soviet Chief of Staff, went on television to give the Kremlin's view of what happened, repeating the spy plane story, but insisting the plane had been warned to land first. Tracing the plane's route with a pointer on a map behind him, he explained that ground controllers had mixed KAL 007 with a U.S. reconnaissance plane, and the order to shoot it down came not from the Kremlin, but from a far east commander in a military decision, raising a question as to whether or not the Soviet civilian leadership had actual control over its military, and leaving the world to wonder if this "hair trigger mentality" could result in a major conflagration. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954035-7,00.html] Needless to say, Ogarkov's television appearance did little to absolve the Soviets of responsibility.

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Thinking that they may have made a bad public-relations impression, on September 9 Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov, the Soviet Chief of Staff, went on television to give the Kremlin's view of what happened, repeating the spy plane story, but insisting the plane had been warned to land first. Tracing the plane's route with a pointer on a map behind him, he explained that ground controllers had mixed KAL 007 with a U.S. reconnaissance plane, and the order to shoot it down came not from the Kremlin, but from a far east commander in a military decision, raising a question as to whether or not the Soviet civilian leadership had actual control over its military, and leaving the world to wonder if this "hair trigger mentality" could result in a major conflagration.<ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954035-7,00.html</ref> Needless to say, Ogarkov's television appearance did little to absolve the Soviets of responsibility.

===Flight of the RC-135===

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::''"Well, what is happening, what is the matter, who guided him in, he locked on, why didn’t he shoot it down?"''

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Debriefed former Soviet military men who had served on the Soviet maritime across from Sakhalin and Moneron and who had immigrated to Israel reported that the Soviet radar stations, including those at Komsomolsk-na-Amura and Edinka, tracked KAL 007 in its spiral descent until it was 1,000 feet above sea level (the point at which Soviet radar could not capture the aircraft due to curvature of the earth). This information was conveyed to the Minority Staff (Republican) under Senator Jesse Helms of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations which issued in its Republican Staff Report [draft] of 1991 [http://www.rescue007.org/republican_staff_study.htm][http://www.rescue007.org/faq.htm#8] this concluding statement - '''“KAL 007 PROBABLY DITCHED SUCCESSFULLY, THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SURVIVORS, THE SOVIETS HAVE BEEN LYING MASSIVELY, AND DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS NEED TO BE MADE TO RETURN THE

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Debriefed former Soviet military men who had served on the Soviet maritime across from Sakhalin and Moneron and who had immigrated to Israel reported that the Soviet radar stations, including those at Komsomolsk-na-Amura and Edinka, tracked KAL 007 in its spiral descent until it was 1,000 feet above sea level (the point at which Soviet radar could not capture the aircraft due to curvature of the earth). This information was conveyed to the Minority Staff (Republican) under Senator Jesse Helms of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations which issued in its Republican Staff Report [draft] of 1991 <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/republican_staff_study.htm][http://www.rescue007.org/faq.htm#8</ref> this concluding statement - '''“KAL 007 PROBABLY DITCHED SUCCESSFULLY, THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SURVIVORS, THE SOVIETS HAVE BEEN LYING MASSIVELY, AND DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS NEED TO BE MADE TO RETURN THE POSSIBLE SURVIVORS.”'''

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POSSIBLE SURVIVORS.”'''

====Deception regarding the crash site====

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====Immediate Soviet mission to Moneron====

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Within minutes of the shootdown, two missions involving rescue helicopters, KGB patrol boats, and civilian ships were ordered by the Soviets to Moneron [http://www.rescue007.org/rescue.htm].

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Within minutes of the shootdown, two missions involving rescue helicopters, KGB patrol boats, and civilian ships were ordered by the Soviets to Moneron <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/rescue.htm</ref>.

[[Image:Mi-8.jpg|Soviet Mi-8 Rescue Helicopter|left|thumb|200px]]

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'''Lt. Col Novoseletski:'''

''"Prepare whatever helicopters there are. Rescue helicopters."''

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'''Titovnin:'''

''"Rescue?"''

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'''Novoseletski:'''

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===No Bodies!===

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It was thought that since the Soviets claimed that they had retrieved no bodies, body parts or tissues from the surface of the sea in their territorial waters and the U.S. search and rescue operation yielded the same lack in the international waters where they could search, then the bodies of the occupants of KAL 007 would be found below the sea trapped in their watery tomb, the remains of KAL 007. Yet, former Soviet Divers reporting in ''Izvestia'' (Dec. 1991) of their visit to KAL 007 at the bottom of the sea, beginning 8 days after the shootdown (while Soviet vessels above and a few miles away in international waters pretended to be searching for KAL 007) were amazed that out of a passenger plane carrying 269 people, there was only one torso. (Reports to the Israel Research Center for Prisons, Psych-Prisons, and Forced Labor Concentration Camps of the U.S.S.R. were that passengers and crew were abducted and then KAL 007 sunk to simulate an aircraft having crashed into the sea).

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The Hydronaut (Gidronaut) , was a combined search and fishing boat, which was mother ship to two small two-man submersibles, the Tinro 2 and the Okeanolog. It's divers had also been hastily flown, this time from Crimean Sevestapol on the Black Sea shores of the Ukraine.

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The Georgi Kozmin was the third ship but had been working before the two civilian manned ships. It had two manned and two unmanned submersibles and its divers were all military. The Georgi Kozmin had come from Soviet Gavan, the main naval port across the Tatar Straits from Sakhalin. It was understood by civilian Soviet divers that anamolies such as missing bodies and luggage, could have been caused by these military divers working before them. See the latest report (Oct. 1, 2000) from one of the divers who visited KAL 007 at the bottom shortly after the shootdown and who found no bodies and no luggage [http://www.rescue007.org/kal_007_diver_gives_interview.htm].

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The Georgi Kozmin was the third ship but had been working before the two civilian manned ships. It had two manned and two unmanned submersibles and its divers were all military. The Georgi Kozmin had come from Soviet Gavan, the main naval port across the Tatar Straits from Sakhalin. It was understood by civilian Soviet divers that anamolies such as missing bodies and luggage, could have been caused by these military divers working before them. See the latest report (Oct. 1, 2000) from one of the divers who visited KAL 007 at the bottom shortly after the shootdown and who found no bodies and no luggage <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/kal_007_diver_gives_interview.htm</ref>.

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In the now unclassified “Surface Combatant Forces—7th Fleet Task Force 71 Flight 007 After-Action Report”, dated November 18, 1983, Commander Piotti would summarize the Soviets’ Search and Salvage operations:

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===Four Theories for the missing bodies===

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====The Spy Complement Theory====

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~~'''~~The Spy Complement ~~theory:'''~~

The earliest theory for the absence of bodies was that there were no bodies found because KAL 007 had but a small complement of military personnel and no civilian passengers. This first version of the spy plane theory was by and large discarded by September 9, 1983, when Marshal Nicolay Ogarkov, U.S.S.R. Chief of General Staff and First Deputy Defense Minister, conceded that there had been civilian passengers aboard KAL 007 (press conference of September 9, 1983, as quoted by Moscow Radio of the same date).

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~~'''~~The Crab ~~theory:'''~~

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====The Crab Theory====

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It was a claim by the Soviets that the reason for the missing bodies was the large amount of crabs in the debris area. Yet, as Professor William Newman, marine biologist, explains '''“Even if we proceed from the supposition that crustaceans, or sharks, or something else fell upon the flesh, the skeletons should have remained. In many cases, skeletons were found on the sea or ocean floor, which had sat there for many years and even decades. In addition, the crustaceans would not have touched bones.”''' [http://www.rescue007.org/docs/Russian%20Explanations%20for%20the%20Missing.pdf] Neither would they have consumed luggage.

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'''~~The Decompression Theory:~~'''

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It was a claim by the Soviets that the reason for the missing bodies was the large amount of crabs in the debris area. Yet, as Professor William Newman, marine biologist, explains '''“Even if we proceed from the supposition that crustaceans, or sharks, or something else fell upon the flesh, the skeletons should have remained. In many cases, skeletons were found on the sea or ocean floor, which had sat there for many years and even decades. In addition, the crustaceans would not have touched bones.”''' <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/docs/Russian%20Explanations%20for%20the%20Missing.pdf</ref> Neither would they have consumed luggage.

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====The Decompression Theory====

This theory had more force, before the black box tapes analysis showed that the total extent of a missile caused ruptures (even when put all together in one area) to KAL's fuselage was only 1 3/4 sq. feet - too small for anyone to be sucked out.

Capt. Mikhail Girs: “Something else was inexplicable to us—zipped up clothes. For instance, a coat, slacks, shorts, a sweater with zippers—the items were different, but— zipped up and nothing inside. We came to this conclusion then: Most likely, the passengers had been pulled out of the plane by decompression and they fell in a completely different place from where we found the debris. They had been spread out over a much larger area. The current also did its work.”

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~~'''~~The Wind Tunnel ~~theory:'''~~

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====The Wind Tunnel Theory====

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Lieutenant General Valeri Kamenski, Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force and formerly Chief of Staff of the Soviet Far East Military District Air Defense Force, the strategic conmander of the shootdown, indicating in a interview (Facti I Kommentari [Ukrainian weekly], March 15, 2001) that what happened to the bodies of the crew and passengers of KAL 007 still constitues a mystery, suggested a third possible explanation. “It is still a mystery what happened to the bodies of the crew and passengers on the plane. According to one theory, right after the rocket’s detonation, the nose and tail section of the jumbo fell off and the mid fuselage became a sort of wind tunnel so the people were swept through it and scattered over the surface of the ocean. Yet in this case, some of the bodies were to have been found during the search operations in the area. The question of what actually happened to the people has not been given a distinct answer.”

===The finds at Wakkanai and Hokkaido beaches===

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Eight days after the shootdown, human remains and debris from within an aircraft appeared on the north shore of Hokkaido, Japan. Hokkaido began about 30 miles (48 km) below the southern tip of Sakhalin across the Soya Straits. From the southern tip of Sakhalin was 35 miles (56 km) up the west coast of Sakhalin to Moneron ). ICAO concluded that these objects were carried from Russian waters to the Japanese shores of Hokkaido by the southerly current west of Sakhalin Island. All other currents of the relevant east Tsushima straits, including the currents of international waters North of Moneron where the U.S. search operations were conducted, flow to the northward. This southerly current [http://www.pices.int/publications/scientific_reports/Report12/kantakov_f.pdf] between Moneron Island and Sakhalin Island could have been the way for debris to have arrived at Hokkaido, and this was the location for which reports had come in to the Israeli research center indicating that KAL 007 had come down. .

+

Eight days after the shootdown, human remains and debris from within an aircraft appeared on the north shore of Hokkaido, Japan. Hokkaido began about 30 miles (48 km) below the southern tip of Sakhalin across the Soya Straits. From the southern tip of Sakhalin was 35 miles (56 km) up the west coast of Sakhalin to Moneron ). ICAO concluded that these objects were carried from Russian waters to the Japanese shores of Hokkaido by the southerly current west of Sakhalin Island. All other currents of the relevant east Tsushima straits, including the currents of international waters North of Moneron where the U.S. search operations were conducted, flow to the northward. This southerly current <ref>http://www.pices.int/publications/scientific_reports/Report12/kantakov_f.pdf</ref> between Moneron Island and Sakhalin Island could have been the way for debris to have arrived at Hokkaido, and this was the location for which reports had come in to the Israeli research center indicating that KAL 007 had come down. .

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'''These human remains, including body parts, tissues, and two partial torsos, totalling 13 pieces in number. All were unidentifiable. One partial torso was that of a Caucasian woman - indicated by auburn hair on a partial skull, and one partial body was of an Asian child (with glass imbedded (KAL 007: Cover-up, David Pearson, Summit Books, New York, 1987, Pg. 234) There was no luggage recovered. Of the non human remains that the Japanese recovered were various items including dentures, newspapers, seats, books, 8 "KAL" paper cups, shoes, sandals, and sneakers, a camera case, a "please fasten seat belt" sign, an oxygen mask, a handbag, a bottle of dish washing fluid, several blouses, an identity card belonging to 25 year old passenger Mary Jane Hendrie [http://www.rescue007.org/mary_jane_hendrie.htm] of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, and the business card of passenger Kathy Brown-Spier (KAL 007: Cover-up, David Pearson, Summit Books, New York, 1987, Pg. 235). All of the finds at Hokkaido contravened what happens at a catastrophic plane crash at sea - the diffusion of all debris:'''

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'''These human remains, including body parts, tissues, and two partial torsos, totalling 13 pieces in number. All were unidentifiable. One partial torso was that of a Caucasian woman - indicated by auburn hair on a partial skull, and one partial body was of an Asian child (with glass imbedded (KAL 007: Cover-up, David Pearson, Summit Books, New York, 1987, Pg. 234) There was no luggage recovered. Of the non human remains that the Japanese recovered were various items including dentures, newspapers, seats, books, 8 "KAL" paper cups, shoes, sandals, and sneakers, a camera case, a "please fasten seat belt" sign, an oxygen mask, a handbag, a bottle of dish washing fluid, several blouses, an identity card belonging to 25 year old passenger Mary Jane Hendrie<ref>http://www.rescue007.org/mary_jane_hendrie.htm</ref> of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, and the business card of passenger Kathy Brown-Spier (KAL 007: Cover-up, David Pearson, Summit Books, New York, 1987, Pg. 235). All of the finds at Hokkaido contravened what happens at a catastrophic plane crash at sea - the diffusion of all debris:'''

Mid-air explosions or plane crashes at sea display a diffused pattern.. In these instances, almost immediately after the crash or midair explosion, there is an indiscriminate mixture of flotsam and debris at the crash site. This admixture is made up of:

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====The Top Secret Soviet Memos====

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(For the memos in their entirety see [http://www.rescue007.org/TopSecretMemos.htm])

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(For the ~~Memos~~ in their entirety see [http://www.rescue007.org/TopSecretMemos.htm]

In 1992, Russian president Boris Yeltsin disclosed five top-secret memos dating from late 1983, within weeks of the downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007. These memos were published in the Soviet news magazine, Izvestia #228, October 16, 1992, shortly after being made public.

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===The Soviet Black Box Deception I: The Tapes===

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The ICAO Report released on Dec. 2, 1983 contained this statement by the Soviet Government, ''"No remains of the victims, the Instruments or their components or the flight recorders have so far been discovered"'' (Appendix F, ICAO 83). This was a lie as Boris Yeltsin's release of the earlier Nov. 1983 Memo from KGB head V. Chebrikov and Defense MInister D. Ustinov to Yuri Andropov, would show, ''"In the third decade of October this year the equipment in question (the recorder of in-flight parameters and the recorder of voice communications by the flight crew with ground air traffic surveillance stations and between themselves) was brought aboard a search vessel and forwarded to Moscow by air for decoding and translation at the Air Force Scientific Research Institute."'' (Izvestia #228, October 16, 1992)

Thus, the Soviets not only had recovered the black box at least a month and a half prior to the time that they had reported to ICAO that there were no recovered "remains of the victims, the instruments or their components or the flight recorders", but their search up through the beginning of November for KAL 007 and the Black Box was seen to be a hoax.

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===="Last Words" contradiction====

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Cockpit Voice Recorder tapes end, most often,with the successful flight arriving at the ramp of the airport of destination, or end recording the flight deck human agony and horror at impending catastrophe.

The last words heard on the CVR tape are - '''18:27:20: "Now... We have to set this. 18:27:23: speed 18:27:26: Stand by, stand by, stand by, stand by, set!"'''

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===The Soviet Black Box Deception II: The Black Box itself===

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The Soviets handed over only one minute and 44 seconds of the Black Box tapes. Both the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Digital Flight Data Recorder tapes which should have continued functioning until the end of the flight, whether by termination of the flight or by a crash, had "ceased simultaneously" (ICAO '93, 1.14.3.10.13). ICAO analysis of the Russian Federation supplied Black Box itself concluded that the damage to it "might have resulted from a high speed water impact" (1.14.3.4.2). But the conjectured "high speed water impact" would have been at or after the documented 12 minutes post attack flight, and not at one minute and 44 seconds after missile detonation. The possible "high speed water impact" can not explain, then, the fact that the tapes ceased at 1 minute and 44 seconds. '''The rest of the tapes would have documented what the Soviet high command saw on their screens, as shown by the Soviet military communications handed to ICAO by the Russian Federation - KAL 007 regaining control, maintaining level flight at 16, 242 ft, turning, and descending in a spiral around Moneron Island. Why had the rest of the tapes not been returned by the Soviets and where are they now?'''

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There are credible but as yet unconfirmed reports of survivors in the former Soviet Union, including Congressman Larry McDonald [http://www.rescue007.org/faq.htm#10~~] [~~http://www.rescue007.org/survivors_of_kal_007.htm]. Jewish immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union reported seeing survivors from the flight. According to reports, most of the adult passengers ended up in labor camps, while the children were adopted out and absorbed into Soviet society. Congressman McDonald was interrogated in Lubyanka Prison in Moscow for a time before he too was sent to forced labor. [[Image:McDonald- Computer Aged.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Computer aged picture of McDonald till 1995 shown to wardens of Temir Tau, Kazakhstan prison where they identified McDonald as having been a former "probable prisoner". Note the scar runiing from the left nostril to corner of mouth.]]

+

There are credible but as yet unconfirmed reports of survivors in the former Soviet Union, including Congressman Larry McDonald <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/faq.htm#10</ref> <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/survivors_of_kal_007.htm</ref>. Jewish immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union reported seeing survivors from the flight. According to reports, most of the adult passengers ended up in labor camps, while the children were adopted out and absorbed into Soviet society. Congressman McDonald was interrogated in Lubyanka Prison in Moscow for a time before he too was sent to forced labor. [[Image:McDonald- Computer Aged.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Computer aged picture of McDonald till 1995 shown to wardens of Temir Tau, Kazakhstan prison where they identified McDonald as having been a former "probable prisoner". Note the scar runiing from the left nostril to corner of mouth.]]

==Senator Jesse Helms and the POW and KAL 007 Connection==

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+

On December 5, 1991, Senator Helms wrote to Boris Yeltsin concerning U.S. servicemen who were POWs or MIAs, '''''"The status of thousands and thousands of American servicemen who are held by Soviet and other Communist forces, and who were never repatriated after every major war this century, is of grave concern to the American people."''''' Yeltsin would ultimately respond with a statement made on June 15, 1992, while being interviewed aboard his presidential jet on his way to the United States, '''''"Our archives have shown that it is true — some of them were transferred to the territory of the U.S.S.R. and were kept in labor camps... We can only surmise that some of them may still be alive."'''''

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On December 5, 1991, Senator Helms wrote to Boris Yeltsin concerning U.S. servicemen who were POWs or MIAs, '''''"The status of thousands and thousands of American servicemen who are held by Soviet and other Communist forces, and who were never repatriated after every major war this century, is of grave concern to the American people."''''' Yeltsin would ultimately respond with a statement made on June 15, 1992, while being interviewed aboard his presidential jet on his way to the United States, '''''"Our archives have shown that it is true — some of them were transferred to the territory of the U.S.S.R. and were kept in labor camps... We can only surmise that some of them may still be alive."'''''

On December 10, just five days after Senator Helms had written Yeltsin concerning American servicemen, he again wrote to Yeltsin, this time concerning KAL 007, '''''"One of the greatest tragedies of the Cold War was the shoot-down of the Korean Airlines flight KAL-007 by the Armed Forces of what was then the Soviet Union on September 1, 1983. . . The KAL-007 tragedy was one of the most tense incidences of the entire Cold War. However, now that relations between our two nations have improved substantially, I believe that it is time to resolve the mysteries surrounding this event. Clearing the air on this issue could help further to improve relations."''''' (See here [http://www.rescue007.org/helms_letter.htm] for complete Helms letter to Boris Yeltsin)

−

This short period in the presidency of Boris Yeltsin evidenced a relative openness toward the United States, a window of opportunity which would shut tight with the ascendancy of Vladimir Putin. Added to KAL 007 and the American POW matters, Yeltsin had exhibited openness in his acknowledgment that the plague that had struck Sverdlovsk on April 9, 1979 causing death to humans and livestock had not been due, as the Soviets had long claimed, to a rampant cow disease, but to a mishap at a military biological facility which released deadly anthrax into the atmoshere.

+

This short period in the presidency of Boris Yeltsin evidenced a relative openness toward the United States, a window of opportunity which would shut tight with the ascendancy of Vladimir Putin. Added to KAL 007 and the American POW matters, Yeltsin had exhibited openness in his acknowledgment that the plague that had struck Sverdlovsk on April 9, 1979 causing death to humans and livestock had not been due, as the Soviets had long claimed, to a rampant cow disease, but to a mishap at a military biological facility which released deadly anthrax into the atmoshere.

−

===The Russian Black Box Acknowledgement===

−

The Yeltsin "thaw" and the window of opportunity for the U.S. saw the ~~follwing~~ developments:

+

The Yeltsin "thaw" and the window of opportunity for the U.S. saw the following developments:

'''On March 24, 1992''', Soviet Defense Minister Dmitri Ustinov admitted on Russian television that he had ordered an all-out effort to retrieve the [[flight recorder|black boxes]] in order to '''''"prevent the United States from finding them and to save the''' Soviet Union from a flurry of international accusations for destoying a civilian airliner"''

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Senator Helms, along with Senator Steven Symms of Idaho and Congressman Carroll Hubbard Jr. of Kentucky, had traveled on KAL 015 fifteen minutes behind KAL 007, and had stopped at Anchorage airport, as did Larry McDonald on KAL 007, and had gotten off KAL 015. McDonald did not get off. Reports indicate that Helms had contemplated changing to KAL 007 to be with him but decided againt it. That near miss must have stayed with him as the outcome of the flight became apparent as KAL 015 arrived at Seoul Airport and KAL 007 did not. As he attended the 30th Year celebration of the U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty - and Larry Mcdonald did not. As the reports from Israel of survivors would come to his office 8 years later. As he would write to Yeltsin. As Yeltsin would comply with all the requests that Helms had made of him - excepting the fate of the passengers and crew, and especially, the sought after information about Larry McDonald.

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But one thing Helms could not forget and would speak of often, and mention in his letter to Boris Yeltsin, was a meeting at Anchorage airport while both KAL 007 and KAL 015 were taking on fuel for the next leg of the trip, a meeting that he had with two child passengers, Noel Anne Grenfell, aged 5, and her sister Stacy Marie, aged 3 [http://www.rescue007.org/grenfells.htm]

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But one thing Helms could not forget and would speak of often, and mention in his letter to Boris Yeltsin, was a meeting at Anchorage airport while both KAL 007 and KAL 015 were taking on fuel for the next leg of the trip, a meeting that he had with two child passengers, Noel Anne Grenfell, aged 5, and her sister Stacy Marie, aged 3 <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/grenfells.htm</ref>.

'''''"I’ll never forget that night when that plane was just beside ours at Anchorage airport with two little girls and their parents.'''

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Used with permission, www.peoples.ru “Weapons were used, weapons authorized at the highest level. Ivan Moiseevich authorized it. Hello, hello.”,“Say again.”,“I cannot hear you clearly now.”,“He gave the order. Hello, hello, hello.”,“Yes, yes.”,“Ivan Moseivich gave the order, Tretyak.”,“Roger, roger.”,“Weapons were used at his order.”|right|thumb|200px]]

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Who ordered the shootdown on the Soviet military side is fairly well known and on the political side, the lines leading up to the General Secretary of the Communist Party and head of the Soviet Union Yuri Andropov, can confidently be conjectured by "working up" the Soviet hierarchical system of command. General Anatoli Kornukov, the Commander of Sokol Air Base on Sakhalin was the "tactical" commander of the shootdown and subordinate to the "strategic" commander of the shootdown - General [[Valeri Kamensky]] (General Kornukov would later become head of the Russian Air Force). General Kamensky was the Commander of the Soviet Far East Air Defence forces and would have informed both General Ivan Moseivich Tretyak [http://www.rescue007.org/rescue.htm]- his direct superior and Commander of the Soviet Far East Military District as his direct commander, and informed the Commander-in Chief of Air Defense Forces at the National Command Center in Kalinin. This was Gen. Alexandr Koldunov. (Maj. Victor Belenko, who served in one of the units that brought 007 down, but who had defected to Japan in his MiG 25 in 1976, says that at the first intrusion of KAL 007 over Kamchatka, Gen. Kamensky would already have informed his superior at the National Command Center at Kalinin and the intruder would have been tracked on the screen there until it had left Soviet territory}. As this was an emergency, the Commander in Chief of Soviet Air Forces (VVS), Chief Marshal of Aviation Pavel Kutakhov would have been informed. As the test of the illegal (Salt ll) SS-25 had been planned for that night with the missile coming down on the Klyuchi target range of Kamchatka [http://www.rescue007.org/how_kal_007_was_lost.htm] - where KAL 007 was to traverse in its first intrusion of Soviet territory- the head of the First Directorate of Strategic Concealment (Maskirovka), First Deputy Chief of Staff Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev would have been present for any decision. Further, Chief of the Soviet General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Defense Nikolai Ogarkov would have been in on any decision and would have informed his superior and link with the Political echelon, Minister of Defense Dmitri Ustinov. It is then that Yuri Andropov would have been in position for decision for shootdown. The telecommunications for this linkage up the Military and then Political chain of command would have been effected well within the hours starting at the first intrusion into Soviet controlled airspace - 1551 GMT (Missile detonation was at 18:26:02 GMT).

+

Who ordered the shootdown on the Soviet military side is fairly well known and on the political side, the lines leading up to the General Secretary of the Communist Party and head of the Soviet Union Yuri Andropov, can confidently be conjectured by "working up" the Soviet hierarchical system of command. General Anatoli Kornukov, the Commander of Sokol Air Base on Sakhalin was the "tactical" commander of the shootdown and subordinate to the "strategic" commander of the shootdown - General [[Valeri Kamensky]] (General Kornukov would later become head of the Russian Air Force). General Kamensky was the Commander of the Soviet Far East Air Defence forces and would have informed both General Ivan Moseivich Tretyak <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/rescue.htm</ref> his direct superior and Commander of the Soviet Far East Military District as his direct commander, and informed the Commander-in Chief of Air Defense Forces at the National Command Center in Kalinin. This was Gen. Alexandr Koldunov. (Maj. Victor Belenko, who served in one of the units that brought 007 down, but who had defected to Japan in his MiG 25 in 1976, says that at the first intrusion of KAL 007 over Kamchatka, Gen. Kamensky would already have informed his superior at the National Command Center at Kalinin and the intruder would have been tracked on the screen there until it had left Soviet territory}. As this was an emergency, the Commander in Chief of Soviet Air Forces (VVS), Chief Marshal of Aviation Pavel Kutakhov would have been informed. As the test of the illegal (Salt ll) SS-25 had been planned for that night with the missile coming down on the Klyuchi target range of Kamchatka<ref>http://www.rescue007.org/how_kal_007_was_lost.htm</ref> - where KAL 007 was to traverse in its first intrusion of Soviet territory- the head of the First Directorate of Strategic Concealment (Maskirovka), First Deputy Chief of Staff Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev would have been present for any decision. Further, Chief of the Soviet General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Defense Nikolai Ogarkov would have been in on any decision and would have informed his superior and link with the Political echelon, Minister of Defense Dmitri Ustinov. It is then that Yuri Andropov would have been in position for decision for shootdown. The telecommunications for this linkage up the Military and then Political chain of command would have been effected well within the hours starting at the first intrusion into Soviet controlled airspace - 1551 GMT (Missile detonation was at 18:26:02 GMT).

==Conclusions and Aftermath==

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*On December 10, 1992 Senator Jesse Helms wrote to Russian president [[Boris Yeltsin]].

−

"One of the greatest tragedies of the Cold War," he wrote, "was the shoot-down of the Korean Airlines Flight 007 by the Armed Forces of what was then the Soviet Union on September 1, 1983. . . The KAL-007 tragedy was one of the most tense incidences of the entire Cold War. However, now that relations between our two nations have improved substantially, I believe that it is time to resolve the mysteries surrounding this event. Clearing the air on this issue could help further to improve relations [http://www.rescue007.org/helms_letter.htm]." At about the same time a military memo boasting of the secret would make it's way into Yeltsin's hands, leading to the discovery of the black boxes as well as the top secret reports about them by the Soviet Defense Ministry. Yeltsin would ultimately respond on January 8, 1993 by handing over to the International Civil Aviation Organization what the Russians had for so many years denied possessing: the tapes of the KAL 007's "Black Box" (its Digital Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder). [http://web.archive.org/web/20010919141246/www.insightmag.com/archive/200104171.shtml][http://www.jamesoberg.com/russian/kal007.html]

+

"One of the greatest tragedies of the Cold War," he wrote, "was the shoot-down of the Korean Airlines Flight 007 by the Armed Forces of what was then the Soviet Union on September 1, 1983. . . The KAL-007 tragedy was one of the most tense incidences of the entire Cold War. However, now that relations between our two nations have improved substantially, I believe that it is time to resolve the mysteries surrounding this event. Clearing the air on this issue could help further to improve relations<ref>http://www.rescue007.org/helms_letter.htm</ref>." At about the same time a military memo boasting of the secret would make it's way into Yeltsin's hands, leading to the discovery of the black boxes as well as the top secret reports about them by the Soviet Defense Ministry. Yeltsin would ultimately respond on January 8, 1993 by handing over to the International Civil Aviation Organization what the Russians had for so many years denied possessing: the tapes of the KAL 007's "Black Box" (its Digital Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder). <ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20010919141246/www.insightmag.com/archive/200104171.shtml</ref> <ref>http://www.jamesoberg.com/russian/kal007.html</ref>

*Previous to the shootdown, the Reagan Administration was far from assured that the Administration supported NATO deployment of Cruise and Pershing II missiles in West Germany, just 6-10 minutes flight to Moscow, would go through. After the shootdown, deployment was assured and remained in affect until the accords with Mikhail Gorbechov allowed for their withdrawal. The shootdown can thus be seen as one of the main incidences leading to the confrontational Reagan policy in the "Second Cold War" which played its part in the backdown and demise of the Soviet Union.

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==Passenger and Crew Breakdown ==

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Republic of Korea 105, United States 62, Japan 28, Taiwan 23 Philippines 16, Hong Kong 12, Canada 8, Thailand 5, Australia 2, United Kingdom 2, Dominican Republic 1, India 1, Islamic Republic of Iran 1, Malasia 1, Sweden 1, Vietnam 1 (ICAO '93, 1.3, Pg. 6).

See [http://www.rescue007.org/passengers.htm] for breakdown of identities, with photos and stories by relatives and friends, for passengers, flight crew, flight attendants, security (air marshals), and deadheaders (repositioning KAL employees).

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== Notes and References ==

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==Notes and References==

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== Sources ==

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==Sources==

*Solovev, Vladimir, and Klepikove, Elena. ''Behind the High Kremlin Walls'', Dodd Mead, New York (1986). ISBN-10: 0396087108 [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0396087108/gemotrack11-20/ref=nosim]

*Dallin, Alexander. ''Black Box: KAL 007 and the Superpowers'', University of California Press, Berkeley, CA (1985)

NathanG

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