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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Committee Formed for the Release of KAL Flight 007 SurvivorsAnnouncement of the Formation of the International Committee for the Rescue of KAL 007 SurvivorsJanuary 22, 2001 -- This is to announce the formation of the
International Committee For the Rescue of KAL 007 Survivors by family members
and friends of passengers who were aboard Korean Airlines Flight 007, shot down
by the Soviet Union over Sakhalin Island on August 31, 1983. The founding members, including Committee Director, Bert Schlossberg of
Jerusalem, Israel, will work toward the dissemination of new information
concerning Flight 007. This
information indicates that the Boeing 747 jumbo jet carrying 269 passengers and
crew made a safe water landing after taking one medium range air-to-air missile
near the rear of the fuselage. It
supports the fact that almost all of the passengers were rescued and sent to
labor camps and other retaining areas within the Soviet Union. Along with disseminating the new information, the International Committee
plans to work with various U.S. and foreign governmental agencies to bring about
the release of KAL 007’s surviving passengers.
Most passengers were from the United States, Korea, Japan and the
Philippines. At present, offices are being opened in Connecticut and Jerusalem, Israel
with the expectation of others being opened in Korea and Japan. Schlossberg, son-in-law of Flight 007 passenger, Alfredo Cruz, explains that
much work has been done starting with the debriefing of former Russian Air
Defense personnel recently immigrated to Israel. This work confirms that KAL 007
landed safely on the surface of the waters off Moneron Island. It culminates
with an appeal from Senator Jesse Helms and his Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations to President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation to release the
“Black Boxes” that were on the plane and provide information about
survivors. Schlossberg states that Yeltsin did release the tapes, which the Soviet Union
had previously denied having. He also released transcripts of the Russian High
Command real-time ground-to-ground radio communications chronicling the
shoot-down and, more importantly, the Soviet rescue missions involving KGB Coast
Guard vessels as well as Air Defense rescue helicopters. According to the new Committee Director, there has never been as complete and
dramatic a presentation of an actual air emergency as this incident. This is
provided by simultaneous tape transcripts of KAL 007 pilot-to-co-pilot cockpit
conversations, air-base-commander instructions to shoot down the plane, the base
ground controller’s transmission of orders to the Soviet interceptor pilot,
the pilot’s chronicling of his stalking and shooting down of the passenger
jet, and Digital Flight Data Recorder records of all movements of the jumbo jet
from the moment of missile detonation to the aircraft’s gradual descent
leading to a landing on the water. Schlossberg also confirms that other evidence has recently been provided that warrants the formation of the Committee at this time and makes release of KAL 007’s passengers more feasible than ever before. He encourages all inquiries or offers of information about the flight to be addressed to the addresses above. For More Information Contact: |
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