On early Sept. 1, 1983, a Soviet interceptor shot down Korean Air Flight 007 en route from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage. All 269 passengers on board were killed as the aircraft crashed into the sea near an island west of Sakhalin, Russia. The Soviets had mistaken the Boeing 747 airliner for a US spy plane as it drifted off course and flew through prohibited Soviet air space. It was one of the deadliest events.