Korean Air Flight 85

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Korean Air Flight 85
Korean Air Boeing 747-4B5 HL7404 (25127667839) .jpg

The affected Boeing 747-400 2005 at Frankfurt Airport
Accident summary
Accident type suspected hijacking (false alarm)
place Whitehorse , Yukon , Canada
date September 11, 2001
Fatalities 0
Survivors all
Injured 0
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 747-4B5
operator Korean Air
Mark HL7404
Departure airport Seoul-Incheon , South Korea
Stopover Anchorage , Alaska , USA
Destination airport New York-John F. Kennedy , New York , USA
Passengers approx. 200-215
Lists of aviation accidents

The pilots of Flight 85 of Korean Air , which took place on September 11, 2001 from Seoul-Incheon to Anchorage , were ordered to land in Whitehorse , Canada, because the air safety authorities suspected that the plane had been hijacked . This was assumed because ARINC had intercepted a message to the airline that contained "HJK", and the pilots also set the transponder code to 7500, the international emergency code for aircraft hijacking, instead of this order according to the FAA, due to the order of a US air traffic controller -To contradict the manual with “no I'm not being hijacked” (“No, we were not kidnapped”) and thus not to carry it out. Because of the acceptance of the authorities, the plane had been hijacked, it was American officials and the Prime Minister of Canada , Jean Chrétien fair game. However, the pilots of the civil aircraft cooperated and were arranged to land in Whitehorse by American F-15 fighter planes .

Possible aircraft hijacking

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, all aircraft were ordered to fly back to their airport of origin or, if the kerosene was not enough, to land at a Canadian airport. During a meeting with the airline about the day's events, the pilot sent a message containing the letters "HJK" (Aircraft Hijacking Code) to the airline. This message was intercepted by the operator of the communication devices, ARINC . Employees there feared that the pilot wanted to send an encrypted message and contacted the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Missing due to other options, ordered the NORAD two on the Elmendorf Air Force Base that are available F-15 will intercept the Boeing, while the Alaska Aerospace Control Center (ATC) presented the pilot coded questions which they would answer as encrypted.

The South Korean pilots followed the instructions of the ATC and declared themselves kidnapped by changing the transponder signal to 7500. Fearing that the kidnappers had targeted a target in Alaska, the Alaska Governor Tony Knowles evacuated hotels and authorities in Anchorage . In nearby Valdez , the United States Coast Guard ordered all oil tankers in port to sail immediately. Lt. Gene. Norton Schwartz , who was the officer in charge of NORAD, later testified that he would have been willing to give the command to shoot down before it could attack a target in Alaska.

When NORAD informed the ATC in Anchorage that the aircraft would be shot down if it came near possible targets, the latter instructed the pilots to avoid densely populated areas and to fly towards Whitehorse. NORAD asked the Canadian authorities for permission to shoot down the aircraft in Canadian airspace:

"I said, 'Yes, if you think they are terrorists, you call me again but be ready to shoot them down." So I authorized it in principle, It's kind of scary that… [there is] this plane with hundreds of people and you have to call a decision like that… But you prepare yourself for that. I thought about it - you know that you will have to make decisions at times that will [be] upsetting you for the rest of your life. "

"I said, 'Yes, if you think they are terrorists, call me again, but be ready to shoot them down.' So basically I authorized it, it's kind of scary ... [there is] this plane with hundreds of people and you have to make such a decision ... But you are preparing for that. I thought about this - you know that from time to time you have to make decisions that [will] haunt you for the rest of your life. "

- Jean Chrétien , Prime Minister of Canada (2001)

90 minutes after the transponder signal was switched to 7500, the plane landed safely in Whitehorse. Canadian authorities evacuated all schools and larger buildings before landing. On the tarmac, Flight 85 was received by armed units of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police . However, after an initial interrogation of the pilots, it became clear that the whole chaos was due to a translation error. The South Korean pilot stated that he had been asked by the ATC to change the transponder signal, which the ATC confirmed.

Korean Air still uses flight number 85 for flights between Seoul-Incheon and New York-JFK ; however, there is no longer any stopover in Anchorage .

Timeline flight 85

September 11, 2001

Operation Yellow Ribbon

The Operation Yellow Ribbon was the operation in which Transport Canada had to reroute many on 11 September 2001 civil flights. It began when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instructed pilots to land all aircraft and diverted incoming international flights to Canadian airports. During the operation, all departing flights, with the exception of police, military and medical flights, were canceled. This was the first time Canada had closed its airspace . Operation Yellow Ribbon resulted in 255 aircraft being diverted to 17 different airports.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Korean Air jet may have narrowly missed disaster.
  2. ^ Second Controller Speaks About Korean Airliner Incident on 9/11.
  3. ↑ a b PM says US attitude helped fuel Sept. 11. ( Memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Korean jet in 9/11 'hijack' scare.
  5. ^ A b Attack on the USA: Canadian Service of Remembrance.