KAL 007 shot down
September 1, 1983
A Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 flying from Anchorage to Seoul strayed into Soviet airspace over Sakhalin. A Soviet fighter shot it down. Two hundred and sixty-nine passengers and crew died, including a US congressman. The Cold War had reached a new temperature. Reagan called the USSR an evil empire.
In context
Also in 1983 (3 other events on record)
- Petrov averts nuclear war · Europe · War
- Beirut barracks bombing · Middle East · War
- US invades Grenada · North America · War
Before and after in East Asia
- Before: 1982: CD released
- After: September 17, 1988: Seoul Olympics
Before and after in Disaster
Era
Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.