10 Worst aircraft accidents and incidents

The plane happened to be flying towards the Soviet Union in a time when relations between the two superpowers was certainly not at their best and, furthermore, on a day when a Soviet missile test was scheduled. The Korean flight crossed over a peninsula in the Soviet Union, re-entered international airspace, and then entered Soviet airspace for a second time. Because of the test, there was also an American military plane in the area, and the two planes passed so close to each other that the Soviets were not sure which was which. One of the Soviet Air Defense commanders decided that, having flown into Soviet airspace, the plane must not be a civilian plane. Unaware of the danger, the pilots decided to climb to a higher altitude, which slowed their airspeed in what appeared to be an evasive maneuver to the fighter pilot following them. The Soviet pilot shot the plane down just as was crossing back to international airspace once more.