Korean Air Flight 085

Korean Air Flight 085

HL7404, the Boeing 747-400 involved, seen in 2005
Occurrence
Date	September 11, 2001 (2001-09-11)
Summary	Suspected hijacking, false alarm
Site	Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 747-4B5
Operator	Korean Air
Registration	HL7404
Flight origin	Incheon International Airport, Incheon, South Korea
Stopover	Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Destination	John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States[1]
Passengers	215

On September 11, 2001, Korean Air Flight 085 (originating from Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea) was en-route to Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, when information about the September 11 attacks was relayed to the crew. The pilot in command's ACARS message reply included the letters "HJK", a prompt interpreted as a distress signal indicating that the flight had been hijacked. When ordered to squawk 7500 (a "hijack" code), the pilot complied, despite miscommunication that implied he would disregard the instruction.^[2][3]

Flight 085 was ordered to divert to Whitehorse International Airport in Canada's Yukon territory. U.S. officials and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien authorized the aircraft to be shot down if it did not cooperate.^[4] The airliner pilots complied and the 747 landed safely in Whitehorse, with U.S. F-15 military jets escorting it. The suspected hijacking turned out to be a false alarm.