Korean Air Lines Flight 902

Soviet air defence radar spotted the plane at 20:54, when the plane was approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) away from Soviet territorial waters.[8] At 21:19 the plane entered Soviet airspace. As the plane did not respond to multiple requests from the ground, a Su-15 interceptor, piloted by Alexander Bosov, was dispatched to intercept the airliner. Having approached KAL902, Bosov waggled the Su-15's wings multiple times, using the international signal for the airliner to follow the interceptor. Instead, KAL902 made a 90-degree turn towards the Soviet-Finnish border. Bosov reported the attempted escape from Soviet airspace to the Air Defence Command Officer Vladimir Tsarkov, and the latter, based on internal instructions, commanded Bosov to shoot down KAL902.

According to Kim's account of the attack, the interceptor approached his aircraft from the right side rather than the left as required by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulation.[8] Kim decreased his speed and turned on the navigation lights, indicating that he was ready to follow the Soviet fighter for landing.[8]

According to Soviet reports, the airliner repeatedly ignored commands to follow the interceptor.[9] Flight 902's co-pilot, S.D. Cha said that the crew had attempted to communicate with the interceptor via radio, but did not receive a response.[6]

Bosov tried to convince his superiors that the plane was not a military threat, but after receiving orders to shoot it down[10][8] at 21:42 he fired an R-60 missile. The missile flew past the target.[8] A second missile hit the left wing, knocking off approximately 4 metres (13 ft) of its length. The missile also punctured the fuselage, causing rapid decompression and jamming one of the plane's four turbines.[8] Korean passenger Bahng Tais Hwang died in the missile strike, which also wounded several others.[6]

After being hit, the airliner quickly descended from an altitude of 9,000 m (30,000 ft).[8] It fell into a cloud, disappearing from Soviet air defence radars. Soviets mistook the part of the wing that had fallen off Flight 902 for a cruise missile and dispatched another Su-15 interceptor to fire at it.[8] Bosov's Su-15 had to return to the airbase due to low fuel.

Accounts of the time between the missile strike and Flight 902's landing differ. According to Soviet media, the airliner flew across the whole Kola Peninsula at a low altitude for about 40 minutes, searching for a place to land. After several unsuccessful attempts at landing, Kim brought the plane down on the ice of the frozen Korpijärvi lake in Karelian ASSR, located approximately 140 kilometres (87 mi) from the Finnish border.[8][11] According to the diary of a passenger on board Flight 902, an account supported by other passengers, an hour and 40 minutes elapsed before the landing.[6] About two hours after the crash landing, Soviet troops reached the plane to begin the rescue effort, by which time Japanese passenger Yoshitako Sugano had died.[6]

Finnish sources stated that Soviet air defense did not have any information on the plane's whereabouts after it disappeared from the radar.[8] However, Tsarkov stated that another Soviet pilot, Anatoly Kerefov, had located Flight 902 and led it to the Afrikanda air base.[8] Tsarkov went on to say that Kim fell behind and landed on the lake.[8] Kerefov said he practically forced the plane to land on the ice of Korpijärvi.[8]

Soviet helicopters rescued the survivors and transported them to the city of Kem in Karelia. The passengers were quartered in the garrison's Officers' Lodge.[8]

On 22 April, the survivors, except the pilot and navigator, were transported via Aeroflot from Kem to Murmansk, then by Pan American World Airways to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Finland, where a Korean Air Lines aircraft departed on 23 April for Seoul with the group of Flight 902 survivors and the bodies of those killed.[12]

On 29 April, the pilot and navigator of Flight 902 were released.[7] TASS, the official news agency of the Soviet Union, said that they had confessed to violating Soviet airspace and disregarding orders from the intercepting aircraft to land.[7] According to TASS, the pair had appealed for clemency to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, which pardoned and expelled them.[7]

The Soviet Union billed South Korea US$100,000 ($448,700 in 2022 prices) for its caretaking of the passengers; however, the bill was never paid by South Korea.[13]