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
Date	20 April 1978 (1978-04-20)
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 / 66.04833; 33.07056
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	Kimpo 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.