KAL 007 - 30 years ago

Derg said:
YESUS H...

Damn. And then the Soviets charged them?
Click to expand...

One of the aircraft from the Doolittle Raid in 1942 ended up landing in Russia. IIRC The Soviets involuntarily held the Americans captive for the duration of the war for violating Soviet airspace and soil without permission. Then sent them back to the US with a bill for our government.

The KAL tragedy always reminded me of the RMS Lusitania disaster in 1915 killing 128 Americans. A lot of funny coincidences, although it was probably still an accident. There was a big push to get America in the war, but isolationists believed it was none of our business. The German Navy specifically warned everyone that the shipping lanes in the North Atlantic, specifically the "exclusion zone" near England were a war zone and that U-boats were authorized to fire at will at anything that looked like a supply ship (they were supposed to stop the ship first and take the pax as prisoner before sinking it.) Coincidence or not, no one questioned that the L's profile was very similar to a supply ship coming from Canada. Oops.

In the years after the sinking it was revealed that the Lusitania was indeed configured too and was carry war supplies below decks though when she sank. Kind of cowardly IMO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania

Even before that, the USS Maine which sank off the coast of Havana in 1898. The US newspapers were already speculating about what "must" have happened within a couple days of the disaster. Even before the investigation had really begun.

http://forums.jetcareers.com/threads/kal-007-30-years-ago.182916/
 
bunk22 said:
Difference is, our aircraft look good and the point was, whether a SU-27 or SU-15, it shot down a defenseless airliner.
Click to expand...

stamps.jpg


yeah defenseless airliners, what kind of sadistic horrible organization could dare murder defenseless civilians traveling aboard a civil airliner... OH wait a second...
 
Dude, that Airbus was full of dead bodies as a set up from the Ayatollah......duuuuuuhhhhh :)
 
BEEF SUPREME said:
stamps.jpg


yeah defenseless airliners, what kind of sadistic horrible organization could dare murder defenseless civilians traveling aboard a civil airliner... OH wait a second...
Click to expand...
Back the hell up. What kind of country would continue to fly civil craft into a de facto war zone in which they were belligerents?
 
The US, Canada and Russia just completed Vigilante Eagle, a joint practice to simulate intercepting a hijacked airliner an handing off the fighter escort back an forth between NORAD an the Russians.

 
Pilot Fighter said:
Back the hell up. What kind of country would continue to fly civil craft into a de facto war zone in which they were belligerents?
Click to expand...

Isn't that like blaming an abused woman for being abused? Regardless I am sure that there were many factors that put the Iran Air flight where it was and the USS Vincennes in the same place and time. However, the US Navy shot down an airliner full of pilgrims gong to Mecca and then gave the captain of the ship that shot the airliner down a medal. The US Navy also delayed or denied payment to nearly all of the families involved with the event.

My point was when posters start using language like the poor defenseless airliner and the big bad Russians we only need to take a moment to realize that our own military has done the exact same thing.
 
Well, enroute to India, I've flown over Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gulf, all sorts of places where either there was "action" going on or could be.

For the most part we generally haven't a clue what's going on on the surface.
 
BEEF SUPREME said:
Isn't that like blaming an abused woman for being abused? Regardless I am sure that there were many factors that put the Iran Air flight where it was and the USS Vincennes in the same place and time. However, the US Navy shot down an airliner full of pilgrims gong to Mecca and then gave the captain of the ship that shot the airliner down a medal. The US Navy also delayed or denied payment to nearly all of the families involved with the event.

My point was when posters start using language like the poor defenseless airliner and the big bad Russians we only need to take a moment to realize that our own military has done the exact same thing.
Click to expand...

It is obvious that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

It is not a trivial matter to dismiss the fact that Iran was a belligerent in the conflict, having fired on military and civilian vessels. Given this fact, it was irresponsible for the Iranians to send civil aircraft into a de facto war zone.

Captain Rogers DID NOT receive a medal related to the shoot-down, but for service during the period.

A Haj flight to Mecca? I don't think so. The flight was in July and destined to Dubai. After the 87 Mecca Incident, Iranians were virtually banned from Haj visits. Even today, the number of Iranians that can visit Mecca during the Haj is restricted for security reasons.

EDIT: Don't forget, in the case of KAL 007, the airliner was LEAVING Soviet airspace and the interceptors were ordered to PREVENT it from LEAVING Soviet airspace. Both were cases of mistaken identity. In the case of KAL 007, a decision to PUNISH the aircraft for violating Soviet airspace was made. In the case of 007, what was the imminent threat that led to the Soviets firing on an aircraft that they admittedly had not positively identified as a military aircraft? I see many differences between these two cases.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top