Word: interceptor
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...black boxes-actually, they are bright orange-are small (5 in. by 9 in. by 15 in.) but heavily armored to withstand explosion, heat and pressure. Their tapes of conversations in the airliner's cockpit could show whether the crew had any warning before a Soviet Su-15 interceptor knocked Flight 007 out of the sky, killing all 269 aboard. For the U.S., retrieval of the boxes could mean the opportunity to strengthen the Reagan Administration's case about the brutality of the incident. The U.S. fears that if the Soviets find the recorders, they will alter...
There was no indication, however, that the cannon shots in question were indeed warning tracers rather than part of an actual attack. The cannons carried by Soviet interceptor jets do not normally carry tracer ammunition. In any case, the Korean pilot apparently did not see the bursts, because even after they were fired he made no mention of anything unusual when he contacted controllers in Tokyo. The scrambling Soviet fighters generally stayed to the rear of the passenger plane and made no apparent attempt to get close enough to signal their presence. Indeed, one of the other revisions...
...training exercise. All of which made the tape more eloquently horrifying when it was played in excerpt for a national television audience by President Reagan and in full for the United Nations Security Council by U.S. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. In the translation, the pilot of the Soviet Sukhoi-15 interceptor who fired the missiles that blasted Korean Air Lines Flight 007 out of the skies, killing all 269 people aboard, described the action in part this...
...aviation custom, the interceptor is permitted to escort the intruder out of the airspace or order it to leave or land. This can be done either by radio in English, the language of the air, or with hand signals. If neither approach works, the interceptor flies in front and to the left of the trespasser and rocks its wings-or at night, the its lights- to signal "Follow me." The off-course plane copies the signal and reply "I will obey." At that point the fighter heads for an airport and flies low over the runway where the intruder...
...fighter pilots lowered their landing gear and flashed landing lights to signal the jetliner to descend, but were ignored. The co-pilot later denied that any signals were given. In any event, Soviet commanders, fully aware that it was a commercial plane, gave the order to attack. One interceptor then fired two heat-seeking missiles. The second struck an engine on the 707 and blew a hole in the fuselage, killing two passengers and injuring 13. Crippled but still under power, the jet plunged from 35,000 ft. to 3,000 ft. before leveling off. It crash-landed 45 minutes...