Customer Reviews

Tailspin: Behind the Korean Airliner Tragedy (1989)

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I remember in 1983 when this incident occurred. No one could believe it had happened. Yet it had happened before, when the Russians had shot down a KAL Boeing 707 which belly landed on a frozen lake on the Kola Peninsula in April, 1978. Two passengers were killed during the incident in which missiles were fired from a Soviet fighter jet at the airliner. The Soviet fighter pilot, flying an SU-15 Flagon, screamed at his controller that it was a civilian airliner, clearly marked 'KAL'. A Soviet General then took control and ordered the reluctant pilot to shoot it down regardless. Ostensibly they believed an RC-135 Burning Wind 707 (ELINT) would be marked with civilian marking. Unnecessary as Burning Winds can do all of their work while in international airspace, where they are always flown. Burning Winds, like all other RC-135 variants, have elongated noses and are virtually without windows as they are heavily packed with electronic surveillance gear. Easily distinguished from a civilian 707.

In 1983, claiming the aircraft used evasive techniques, the Soviet pilot Gennadi Osipovich was ordered by Soviet ground control to move into position and fire missiles at the civilian KAL 747. Transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder, later released, give no indication the 747's crew were aware of the Sukhoi Su-15 following or signaling to them, and had requested permission from Tokyo Air Traffic Control to move from FL330 to FL350 (33,000 feet to 35,000 feet in altitude). Climbing causes an aircraft to slow down and the Soviet pilot's dialogue, intecepted by U.S. military listening posts on Wakkanai, Japan, shows the pilot telling his ground control he cannot "chase" the "evading" intruder, as he was already abreast or ahead of it. This would have occurred as KAL 007 initiated its climb, even though engine thrust is increased to compensate.

Various discussions involve Air Force intelligence ops personnel who are trying to determine what had just happened. Loitering in the area just prior to KAL 007 entering Soviet airspace was an RC-135 "Cobra Ball" aircraft which carries special cameras, spectral analyzers, tracking and listening equipment to gather a flood of intelligence just outside the borders of various countries in international airspace (much like Soviet trawlers never did any fishing for fish around various American naval ships and bases). The Cobra Ball was there to record a Soviet missile test which was aborted for unknown reasons.

After the Cobra Ball is launched from Shemya airfield in Alaska, the movie turns to the U.S. military's Misawa, Japan base, who are perpetually monitoring Russian military frequencies as part of routine operations. It's mission now scrubbed, the Cobra Ball departs the area for the Shemya Island airfield and not soon afterwards, KAL 007 enters the Soviet radar net in approximately the same area. The Soviets first scrambled jets as KAL 007 crossed the Kamchatka Peninsula, a major Soviet military area. 007's course then took it on to Sakhalin, site of additional significant Soviet military operations and bases. Notifications to the NSC from the Misawa base, rejections of the notifications, involvement of the U.S. State Department, speeches by Reagan, and more are all either portrayed or actual footage from the archives are used.

269 souls perished on the plane, including 66 Americans, one of which was a controversial U.S. Congressman, Larry McDonald. Transcripts from the cockpit show rapid loss of control, confusion by the cockpit crew and then the tapes go dead 1 minute 40 seconds after the first indication the 747's cockpit crew knew of trouble. Serious loss of control is noted during the transcript.

Various claims from KAL being a super-secret ferret mission to trigger Soviet radar sites to INS programming / initialization errors are mentioned. I've watched the movie several times and while not perfect, it at least brings the events up for discussion and review.

Lt. Col Gennadi Osipovich received promotions in the Soviet Union and considers himself something of a celebrity. Indeed.

I FIRST SAW THIS MOVIE ON HBO WAY BACK WHEN? IT IS HARD TO FIND. NOT ON DVD. MY SON FOUND A COPY, AND GOT IT FOR ME. I HAVE WATCHED IT A THOUSAND TIMES, OR MORE. IT SEEMS SO REAL, AND IT IS SO SAD THAT WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE THAT THE "RUSSIANS" WERE TO BLAME. NOT!!!!!!! I THINK THIS IS THE ONLY "TRUE" VERSION THAT ANY OF US WILL EVER KNOW, OR ACCEPT AS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED THAT NIGHT. I BELIEVE!!!!!!!! AS A FORMER USAF SSGT DISCHARGED A MONTH PRIOR TO THIS TRAGEDY, I CAN TELL YOU IT IS VERY TRUE, AND VERY POSSIBLE. OUR GOVERNMENT MAKES BAD GUYS OUT OF EVERYONE THEY HATE. TO COVER THERE OWN BUTTS! I GOT THE VHS TAPE AND COPIED IT TO DVD. IF THEY WONT DO IT, I WILL. LOOKS AND SOUNDS GREAT. NOW, I HAVE 2 COPIES I CAN WATCH. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!