On September 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines flight 007, on its way from Anchorage, Alaska to Seoul, Korea, carrying 269 passengers and crew, strayed off its intended course and entered into Soviet airspace.  A Soviet Sukhoi 15 fighter jet, piloted by Major Gennadie Osipovich, was sent up to destroy the intruding Boeing 747.

This, at the height of the Cold War era, was a major international incident.  At the time, it was - and still is - widely believed that the plane "exploded", "plummeted uncontrollably" into the ocean, and was "destroyed", killing all aboard, including Lawrence ("Larry") Patton McDonald, Representative (D), 7th District, Georgia.

The evidence, however, tells another story.  Japanese radar trackings, Soviet ground-to-ground and ground-to-air communications, KAL 007's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, the debris (and lack thereof), eye-witness testimonies... All these and more, when pieced together, tell of a plane which was, indeed, damaged, but which managed to land safely, and of passengers who survived and were rescued by the Russians -- only to be imprisoned to this day.

KAL 007 as HL7442, shown with the "I love New York" design it had on the day of the shoot-down

This web site is dedicated to finding and presenting the truth that is known concerning these events.

• For a basic introduction to what happened, select The Story from left navigation bar menu.
• A number of documents relating to the downing of KAL 007, including top secret Soviet memos, the "CIA Report" (Senate Foreign Relations Committee minority draft report), articles and interviews are available by selecting Documents.
• A detailed and documented record of the shooting down of KAL 007 is presented in the book, Rescue 007: The Untold Story of KAL 007 and Its Survivors, by Bert Schlossberg. For more on the book and information for ordering copies, select The Book.
• For a chronology of events relating to the shoot-down, the cover-up and the discovery of information concerning it, select Chronology.
• For a detailed discussion of the questions that have come up concerning the downing of KAL 007 and the rescue of its passengers and crew, select FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).
• Information on the plane itself is available at The Plane.
• The Literature section lists articles and books on the subject that have been published over the years.
• The selection on Ditchings contains information on other aircraft water landings. 
• Want to help but don't know how?  Find out on the How to Help page.
• Information on the passengers aboard KAL 007 and where they sat is available at Passengers.
• Русские Документы contains Russian translations of some of the English-language documents on this site.
• 한글 문서 contains Korean translations of some of the English-language documents on this site.
• 日本文 contains Japanese translations of some of the English-language documents on this site.

Visitors since January 1, 2002: 

Send mail to webmaster@rescue007.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: April 02, 2009

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