All language subtitles for Shootdown (1988) AMZN.WEB

(MulitiCom Jingle)

(soft music)

(phone rings)

- Nan Moore.

Well I'm sorry, but I don't believe

you hold the proper ranking

for what you're suggesting.

David,

this is not a private line.

Well watch what you're saying.

(laughter)

I'm trying to get out of here.

I'll see you later.

Good, bye

I'm so sorry dear.

- Oh, overtime?

- Oh, they have to pass a special bill

to keep me here today.

- Two more minutes Nan,

remember tax payer's dollars.

- Good God, is it Friday?

Have I missed something?

- Could it be a date?

Is there something you'd
like to tell us dear?

- Well, actually ladies and gentlemen,

I do have a few choice words.

- [Woman] Whoa, whoa, whoa,

and tell John to have a great year.

- Oh, I will.

Thanks, bye.

- John?

John?

John, you better start cleaning up.

- I've got to finish this.

- You're so compulsive.

- Well.

I'm going to be gone for a whole year,

and I am not going to
leave this half painted.

That's my shirt Elizabeth.

- Looks great, doesn't it?

- Yeah.

I ironed it.

- John, feel free to borrow
anything of mine you want.

That's what sisters are for.

John?

John, don't you dare.

Don't come near me with that.

John.

It's your shirt.

- That's my point exactly.

- You're dripping.

- Oh, look what you did.

- Me?

- Yeah, I was doing just fine

until I saw you running
off with my clothes.

- Oh well I'm not so sure about that.

I mean,

look, you missed a spot right here.

John, this entire wall needs another coat.

Fine mess you left us in Oly.

Off to China,

leaving us with only half a wall painted.

- No.

- John, I'm really sorry.

John, I am really sorry.

John.

I am really sorry.

John.

- I'm gonna get you.

- John, stop it please.

I said.

I' said I'm sorry.

- Are you?

- Yes.

- Peace.

- Okay.

I'm going to be sweating
midterms and finals

and you're gonna be living the life

of Riley in Beijing.

- I don't think that there is a life

with Riley in Beijing.

- Well it must be great to have
all your studying over with.

- Well, I'll be back in a year

and you can tell me how
you sailed through college.

Elizabeth.

Hey.

You have the brains and
you have the ability.

- Not now John.

- Hey, how many times
do I have to tell you,

you don't have to stack yourself up

against anybody else.

- Right.

I have a sister with
a degree in economics.

A brother with a law degree

from an Ivy League school,
thank you very much.

- I see your problem.

Hey.

It is exciting.

You're moving on to a
new point in your life.

- I guess.

It is.

(soft music)

- Mom's gonna be lonely you know.

You're the last one to leave.

- I think she's looking
forward to being alone.

She gets to spend some time with David.

- Well I don't care what
kind of front she puts up,

she raised four kids in this house,

and now she's gonna be by herself.

Just, you take care of her Elizabeth.

- I will.

Alright, come on, let's go.

They're probably waiting for us.

(laughter)

- He is flying high
above the dinner table.

Superman.

- Thank you.

- [Elizabeth] I think
I'll have the shishkabob.

- Thank you.

- I wouldn't.

- Why not mother?

- Because I've had the pasta

and I think you'll enjoy it more.

You think this is hard now,

but you're gonna miss me
telling you what to do.

(laughter)

- I'm sure it'll take
some getting used to.

I'm just kidding.

- Oh yeah, right there.

Now listen, competition is keen.

Grade point average is important,

extra curricular activities

are a must.

I cannot emphasize this enough.

- John, why don't you
give the kid a night off.

- There are no nights off

in the quest for excellence.

Remember, Handover,

Columbia,

Princeton.

Law school.

- He must be feeling pretty
cocky about the law boards

if you're still pushing law school.

- Oh boy, ask me in a few months

when I get those results.

- Well, maybe he should be
just a little bit cocky.

- Well that's it mother,

encourage him.

- I'm not ashamed to be proud

and neither should you John.

I mean you graduated
from the finest schools

and you've done it with honors.

- Thank you.

- Well I don't want to put

a damper on the evening, but,

it's gonna be a very sparse life in China.

- Oh mom,

he's only going away for a year.

It's not forever.

- I'm sorry, it's just,

it's just a long time since I had a cry.

- My brother Ben died of cancer.

He was only 17.

- Well, those were different tears.

- No, Ben would never have
wanted his mother to cry,

not at a moment like this.

No.

No.

No, he probably would have put a

puppet on his lap

and said something like

Ma, loosen up.

Everybody's here ma,

the whole family is here.

(laughter)

- Hold this for me will ya?

- Are you going on a picnic?

- Elizabeth and I have to drive

all the way up to Connecticut tomorrow.

- Do you think that's such a good idea?

- Oh, we'll be fine.

It's the nature of mothers and daughters

to disagree about everything.

It'll pass.

It was the same with Mary.

Do you want me to make you a sandwich

to take on your trip?

- Mother, it's a 45 minute shuttle

to New York.

- And then forever on to China.

- Stop kicking yourself

because you're taking Elizabeth.

It's her first year.

Besides, I don't need you
to take me to the airport.

- Wash that.

- I think you should marry David.

- And I think you should
stay in Washington.

- Wow.

So much for that discussion.

- I like him very much.

Next topic.

- I just want to make sure
that you're taken care of.

- I have a job.

I don't need to be taken care of.

Pretty 1980s, huh?

- It's time that somebody

started picking up the slack for you.

- Take up the slack for me?

John, I wish there was
more that I could give.

I wish it hadn't been
so hard for all of you.

- Mother, you taught us
not to let those things

get in our way.

- Yes.

I just

want you to have time.

Time to make choices,

fall in love,

get married.

- You just want to get your
hands on the grandchildren.

- I have no shame.

I can't wait.

I'm gonna miss you.

(soft music)

What are you doing here?

- I just thought you
might need some company.

- Elizabeth and I

argued all the way to Westmin,

and we both cried when
we had to say goodbye.

- You think you'd have built
up some callouses by now.

- Got to me a bit.

She's my baby.

- We just have to remember
to draw the drapes

and we've got the whole house.

- You're a maniac.

- You did a terrific job
with each of your kids.

Got a whole new era ahead of you now.

- You know, I've never lived in this house

without the children.

That's going to be very, very quite.

- Not if I have anything to say about it.

- I'm glad you're here.

- Yes.

I would like to

change my reservation to Beijing

from the 30th to the 31st.

Is there a seat available?

Okay, my name is John Moore.

Yes, I would like to cancel

and rebook for August 31st.

Okay.

Uh huh.

Flight zero zero seven,

leaving JFK

at 11:50 PM.

Okay, thank you very much.

Okay.

(speaking foreign language)

- Thank you very much for your help John.

When you're in Beijing,

I hope our people will extend themselves

as you did.

(speaking foreign language)

(laughter)

- Now are we clear on moxie?

- We want our deposit refunded.

- Very good.

(phone rings)

- Hello?

John.

Where are you calling from?

Where are you?

- I'm at Kennedy.

I had to postpone a day.

Some Chinese students had difficulty

getting an apartment

so I had to interpret.

- [Nan] Well don't they speak English?

- Not landlord English.

Did Elizabeth settle in okay?

- Oh, yes.

Yes, she's gonna be just fine.

And it's such a beautiful campus.

- That's great.

Mother,

you never told me that you
liked the job that I did

on half the garage.

- Oh it was wonderful.

You want to do the rest of the house?

- I'll miss you.

- I love you pal.

- [Announcer] Flight oh oh seven

for Seoul, Korea

- Okay, I gotta go.

- [Nan] John, do you have a warm coat?

- Don't worry about me.

- [Nan] I want to send
you the brown pockets.

It's not very pretty, but it's warm.

- They're gonna leave
if I don't go now mom.

- [Nan] Take care of yourself, John.

- Okay, bye mom.

- Bye.

- [Announcer] Flight oh
oh seven for Seoul, Korea.

- Be good.

Take care of your sister.

- [Announcer] Is in its
last boarding stages

at Gate eight F.

(soft music)

Rows one through 15, please board now.

Please have your boarding passes ready.

(speaking foreign language)
(soft music)

- [Radio Host] Into Soviet air space.

All reports at the present time

indicate that the airliner

was escorted by Russian fighter pilots

and has been detained at a military base

on Sakhalin Island.

(soft music)

- Good morning Diane.

- Good morning Nan.

- Morning Charles.

- [Charles] Good morning Nan.

How are you?

- Nan.

I haven't gotten the documentation yet

from General Dynamics.

- Oh.

Well we'll put a tracer on it.

- Oh, he's not in yet.

Want to get some coffee?

- Oh, sure.

- Have you heard from John yet?

- No.

It'll take him a couple
days to get settled in.

- Pretty hair raising
news this morning, huh?

I bet there's big pow wows going
over on the hill right now.

- What are you talking about?

- Haven't you read your
paper this morning?

- No, I was late getting started.

- A Korean air lines
flight was forced down

over Russian.

- When?

- Last night.

They just announced it this morning.

Thank your lucky stars John
left a couple days ago.

- Not a commercial flight?

- Yes, flight oh oh seven.

Do you believe that name?

Creepy huh.

They say it's strayed.

Russian's forced it down
over Sakhalin Island.

Nan?

- John stayed back a day.

Oh God.

- Nan, he'll be alright.

- Excuse me, pardon me.

I've got to call Elizabeth.

- Oh Nan.

- Dammit, I can't find the paper Elizabeth

wrote her number on.

- Nan, sit down.

I'll try and track down Elizabeth for you.

- Oh God, let him be safe.

Let them all be safe.

- Nan, is there anything we can do?

- John was on the plane.

I'll take care of it.

- Yes,

may I speak with Elizabeth Moore please?

When do you expect her back?

Would you please have her
call her mother right away?

Thank you.

Oh, I need to call the children.

They didn't know that
John was on that flight.

They might release the names on the news.

- Nan, we'll be right
out here if you need us.

- Nan,

Nan, it was a commercial air liner.

The Russians will just detain it.

A week from now, it'll be nothing more

than an embarrassing incident

and John will have a
terrific story to tell.

(dramatic music)

- At 1400 hours Greenwich
Mean Time yesterday,

A Korean

Air Lines Boeing 747

on route from New York to Seoul, Korea

departed Anchorage, Alaska.

The aircraft strayed into Soviet air space

over the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The Soviets tracked
the commercial airliner

for some two and one half hours.

At 1821 hours,

the Korean aircraft was
reported by the Soviet pilot

at 10,000 meters.

At 1826 hours,

the Soviet pilot reported

that he fires a missile.

And the target was destroyed.

- What's he saying?

- Nan.

- Soviet Union.

The United States reacts with
revulsion to this attack.

Loss of life appears to be heavy.

We can see no ...

- I thought it was safe.

- [Man] For this appalling act.

- It was on Sakhalin.

That's what they told us.

How can he be saying this?

- I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

- He's dead.

- Oh Nan.

Nan.

- My son is dead.

(dramatic music)

I want to pick up
Elizabeth at the airport.

- Come on Nan,

she said she'd take a cab.

She'll be fine.

(group chatter)

(horn honks)

- [Reporter] An account of what happened?

- [Reporter] Are you Mrs. Moore?

Are you Mrs. Moore?

Can we get a comment from you ma'am?

(group chatter)

- Would you just stand back from the car.

Good

Just stand back from the car.

Just stand back.

Stand back.

- Have you heard anything?

- Have you identified
the body yet Mrs. Moore?

(reporters yelling questions)

- [Reporter] Can you give me a comment

on the tragedy of your son?

- Mrs. Moore, I know this
is a difficult time for you

right now, but people need to know

what you're thinking and feeling

about this incident.

How do you feel toward the Soviets?

- I'm sorry, Mrs. Moore is in no shape

to answer any questions right now.

Please.

- [Female Reporter] Mrs. Moore,

the world mourns with you Mrs. Moore.

(reporters yelling)

- [TV] The search
flotilla of over 60 ships

and aircraft remains on station

in the sea of Okhotsk,

north of Japan.

The belief here is that the Soviet Union

may have already ...

- It's very hot.

- [TV] The downed Korean airliner,

or the jumbo jet's black box

flight and voice recorders.

- Let me turn that off.

- No.

- [TV] The 747 was shot down.

Among the northern Hokkaido coastline,

authorities continue to look
for debris washed ashore.

The first piece of identification

of an American aboard the airliner

was ...

- John.

- Oh honey,

it must have happened so fast.

(phone rings)

- [TV] Meanwhile, the two week suspension

of the Tokyo Moscow air services

- [Lilian] Hello.

No, she can't come to the phone right now.

- Oh, why don't those
reporters leave us along.

How can I describe how I feel.

(reporters talking over each other)

- [Female Reporter] There
are angry demonstrations

here in Washington
denouncing the Soviet Union.

Do you think we should
retaliate against the Russians?

- The only thing I know

that John would be strongly against

is this notion of retaliation.

Retaliation is just ridiculous.

And to think in those terms

would be to negate his life.

(reporters talking over each other)

(crying)

- Momma?

I'm going to go to Korea.

Will you change your
mind and come with me?

- Oh, it's halfway across the world.

I don't have the strength.

- I'll try and bring him back.

- It doesn't feel real,

does it?

When Ben had cancer,

at least we all had the chance to accept

what was happening,

to say goodbye.

This photo of John

was taken before you were born.

He was seven years old.

(soft music)

He used to get out of school before Ben.

That was when we put him
in the special school.

I used to fix a snack for us

and then I'd pick him up and
we'd go down to the park.

That we were pals.

- Is that why you used to call him pal?

- He felt different from the other kids

because of his reading problem,

and because

we had to change schools for him.

But I didn't want him to feel different.

I wanted him to feel special.

- He was special.

He worked so hard.

Don't they watch momma?

Don't they have radar?

Don't they watch Russia?

They must.

- Who's they?

- Our military.

I don't know, Intelligence.

It's a border, we must
watch Russia all the time,

don't we?

- Well, one would think.

- I mean,

aren't there people
just glued to the radar

watching if Russia

launches World War III?

If they're looking for
missiles all the time,

don't you think that they
would spot and airplane

of course?

- Well our government isn't
going to let the Russians

get away with this.

We're gonna find out what happened.

- I bet we never do.

You work for the government,

you never talk to us about work.

Do you really think that
we're ever gonna find out

whatever happened up there?

- Honey, what do you want me to do?

I've lost my son.

- He was my brother.

I just lost my brother.

Does any of this make sense to you?

Any of it?

(solemn music)
(crying)

- Let me help you.

Let's go.

- [Reporter] Memorial service was held

in Seoul's main football stadium.

It was packed to capacity.

Buddhists, Catholic and
Protestant rites were held.

The victims of the jumbo jet disaster

were of 16 different nationalities.

Korean Air Lines arranged for nearly

100 family members

of foreign passengers killed to be there.

- She had to touch their names momma.

She couldn't accept their death

until she had touched their names.

Momma?

- I'm still here honey.

I was so worried for you.

- No, I'm alright.

I'm gonna go to Hokkaido tomorrow.

We've heard that some

bodies have washed up on the shore there.

I'm sorry momma.

I don't know what other words to use.

- [Nan] You be strong for me Elizabeth.

- I will momma.

- Are you gonna be at the memorial service

in Washington?

- I'll try.

I love you.

(church bells)

(organ plays)

The president is greeting the
relatives downstairs mother.

- Was John?

- We didn't find anything.

- Nothing?

Not a trace?

- There was some

debris that washed up on the shores

in Hokkaido.

Parts of bodies were found.

- Why couldn't they have all be safe

like we were told?

- Safe of Sakhalin was a lie mother.

- We don't know that.

- We learned in Hokkaido that the US

had ships out looking for wreckage.

- Elizabeth!

- They were looking for wreckage

hours before they told us

that the plane was forced down

and safe on Sakhalin.

- We don't know that.

Stop it.

I don't have a body to bury.

This is the second time
I have been at a service

for a son.

When I lost Ben,

it was an act of God.

There was nothing or no
one to blame for that.

But John was murdered.

And I have nothing to bury.

How can I put that son to rest?

(somber music)

(soft music)

(speaking foreign language)

- Those were the voices
of the Soviet pilots.

In this tape, the pilot
who fired the missile

describes his search for
what he calls the target.

He reports he has it in sight.

Indeed, he pulls up within about a mile

of the Korean plane.

He then reports he's reducing speed

to get behind the airliner.

Gives his distance from the plane

at various points in this maneuver

and finally announces
what can only be called

the Korean Air Line Massacre.

He says he has locked on the radar,

which aims his missiles,

has launched those missiles.

The target has been destroyed

and he is breaking off the attack.

The 747 has a unique and
distinctive silhouette

unlike any other plane in the world.

There is no way a pilot could mistake this

for anything other

that a civilian airliner.

Our immediate challenge to this atrocity

is to assure that we make the skies safer

and that we seek just compensation

for the families of those who were killed.

Make no mistake about it,

this attack was not just against ourselves

or the Republic of Korea.

This was the Soviet
Union against the world

and the moral precepts
which guide human relations

among people everywhere.

It was an act of barbarism.

- No, turn it over.

- Why don't you try to
go back to work mother?

- Mary, did you hear Schultz
say that they listened in

on the Soviet pilots,

that they could hear them?

- The more you dwell on it,

the more it will hurt.

- If they could hear them,

wouldn't you think they'd know

that there was something wrong?

- Mother.

Try to go back to work.

Somehow we need to pull
ourselves back together.

Try.

(horns honking)

(airplane overhead)

- [John] Mother, you never told me

that you like the job I
did on half the garage.

- [Nan] Oh, but it was wonderful.

You want to do the rest of the house?

- [John] You just want to get your hands

on the grandchildren.

- [Nan] I have no shame.

I can't wait.

- [John] I just want to make sure

that you're taken care of.

I'll miss you.

- I love you pal.

Lilian?

I can't come in.

I don't know.

Maybe next week.

I don't know.

Lilian, I can't talk right now.

- Need a hand?

- Sure.

Now, where were you an hour ago?

Morning Ernie.

- Morning Mrs. Moore.

- Thank you.

He passed the Bar.

(dramatic music)

(group chatter)

- Aren't you glad I talked you in to this?

- It's a gorgeous exhibit.

- Say thank you Lilian.

- Thank you Lilian.

This is the best part of Washington,

the galleries,

the museums and the galleries.

When the kids were little,

I used to pack them all up,

all four of them,

and we would go through the galleries.

- Just keep moving.

I'm not gonna pretend I
know what you're feeling,

but somehow you've got to go on.

How can I help you?

- I don't think anyone can

who hasn't lost what I've lost.

(phone rings)

Hello?

- [Elizabeth] I didn't
wake you did I momma?

- Oh, no, no.

I was up.

I was just picking out an outfit for work.

I'm going to go to work tomorrow.

- Good.

Very good.

- [Nan] What do you need sweetheart?

- Who says I need anything?

- [Nan] Habits.

- Mother.

- I'm sorry, sorry.

Let's start over.

How is your love life?

No, don't tell me.

- [Elizabeth] I wanted to let you know

I'm sending you some articles
from the Berkshire Eagle

written by a guy named Robert Allardyce.

- Oh, why?

- Because he's investigated
some plane crashes

and he has some theories
about what happened.

- Elizabeth,

honey I want you to look after yourself.

- [Elizabeth] I loved him mother.

- I know you did sweetheart.

But you have your own future

to be concerned about.

Now you have school

and this is your freshman year.

- Mother,

this man doesn't think the
pilot strayed by accident.

He thinks the course was set.

- But, but that is insane.

- [Elizabeth] The history of the world is,

is shaped by somebody doing
one insane thing or another,

and guess who has to pay for it?

People like John.

- Oh honey, you don't
know what you're saying.

Stop it.

- Momma, do you want
to look the other way?

Do you want to say John died

and we don't know why,

and we don't even care enough
to find out what happened?

Just read the articles.

Okay momma?

- Our little one's keeping her so busy

she hasn't even had
time to spend her rave.

- It was so kind of you both to

drop by during those first few weeks.

Bruce, I don't mean to
put you on the spot.

- But you're going to anyway, huh?

- There's been certain things I've read

that I don't understand,

like RC135s.

- Now Nan, the people who
really know about RC135s

aren't likely to be talking
to either one of us.

- All these years in Intelligence

and you, you still know nothing?

- We could not break without secrets.

It's called national security.

- Oh Bruce please,

it was right there in the New York Times.

An RC135

flew near

oh oh seven.

- The Russians say an
RC135 was in the area.

- Was it?

Alright.

Can you at least tell me

what an RC135 does?

- An RC 135 is an Air
Force reconnaissance plane.

It makes routine flights
along the Russian coast

and eavesdrops on
electronic communications.

It's one of the main ways we keep tabs

on the Russian military.

And none of that's a secret.

Not even to the Russians.

- And that's it?

- More or less.

- Bruce, we all know that
we're spying on each other.

Thanks for enlightening me.

- Nan.

Let's go over here.

It goes back

to what we've been doing since the 50s.

Sometimes we take these
reconnaissance planes

loaded with electronics gear.

We send them right up to the border.

We call it tickling.

It's a game we play.

- And this is in the name of defense?

- It's called the Cold War Nan,

and it works both ways.

- The Russians said
that they were confused.

Now why would they have
thought that an airliner

was an Air Force spy plane?

- The Russians are used to monitoring

the reconnaissance planes on patrol,

but they've never seen anything like this.

Now two blips

representing two planes,

merged right on the Russian radar screen.

- So they couldn't tell the difference

between the RC137

and the airliner any more?

- Exactly.

And from that point on,

the Russians claimed a plane,

possibly an RC135

was headed straight
toward the military base

in Kamchatka.

- Bruce, if there's
anything that you know ...

- Nan,

the Russians have to come up

with their version of things too.

- Tickling, huh?

- Whatever the reason,

Flight oh oh seven was where it was.

It triggered a military alert.

- But these weren't soldiers
on a reconnaissance plane,

these were innocent people.

- Nan, I don't know if
the plane was sent in

deliberately or not.

But the Russian defense system

lit up like a Christmas tree,

and what we learned from it was valuable.

- It was valuable?

- I broke you mug while you were gone.

I'm owning up to it.

You can have mine.

- Lilian,

I'll cherish it.

Thank you honey.

- I'm glad you're back.

Oh, you got a lot of paperwork.

- Lilian, it flew over
two Soviet military bases,

and it had to fly through
our buffer zone to get there.

- Nan, don't do this to yourself.

- It just keeps going around in my head.

Somebody must have seen.

I mean we watch our buffer zone

for income missiles.

- It's gonna take a long time

to put all the pieces together.

- Schultz said in his speech

we knew the Soviet fighter

was in constant contact

with his ground control.

We heard them.

Now Lilian,

somebody was listening.

- Nan,

the Soviet fighter pilot
was speaking in Russian.

Can you imagine the bureaucratic mess

until they get a final translation?

- Lilian, we live in a world

where we can be blown up in minutes.

Now I would like to believe
that our defense system

was a little more efficient

than what you are suggesting.

- Nan, nobody should
have to ever go through

what you're going through.

Please,

don't make it any worse on yourself.

(group chatter)

- Lady?

Lady?

Lady?

- This guy Allardyce is out on a limb.

How can a guy in Massachusetts
claim to know what went on

over the eastern seaboard of Russia.

- He's a 747 flight engineer.

He knows those planes well.

- It doesn't tell you he's off his rocker.

- I want to hear what he has to say.

- It's clear what he has to say,

he asks questions he can't answer.

And then infers the US
is at the bottom of it.

Did the CIA have a hand

in this bloody mess?

Oh sweetheart,

all I see in front of you

is frustration and bitterness.

You've got to pick up
the pieces of your life.

- If I want to hear something

that makes sense...

- There are a lot of respectable
people in this country

who believe the plane strayed.

John is gone.

Come to peace with that.

- How?

Can you tell me how?

One day, I had a young boy.

A strapping, sweet, brilliant young man

with every prospect of a future,

and now this is what I have.

A picture of John's tennis shoes

amid the debris.

You see the white paint on them?

That's the same paint
that's on my garage door.

Now this is what I'm left with.

I want to know why.

(dramatic music)

- I read Mr. Allardyce, that
the pilot may have punched in

the wrong coordinates

and that's what set the
plane on the wrong course.

- Mistakes can be made,

but it's not like hitting
the number in your telephone.

There are three computers

that make up the inertial
navigational system.

The pilot must enter the same numbers

into each one of them.

The numbers must agree with each other.

If they don't,

lights flash

and warning buzzers go off.

- Well what if he puts
the same wrong number

into each system.

- The pilot doesn't fly the plane alone.

There's a flight engineer

and a copilot.

They are all responsible

for loading in the system

and they're constantly cross checking.

- This sounds crazy, but,

I mean what if all three believed

that they were putting
in the right numbers?

- Well even the crew

doesn't fly the plane alone.

There is ground control

and there are way points

where the pilot must

check his location

and report it in.

- You said that Captain Chun

was used to flying this course.

But what if the crew were bored,

or inattentive?

- I was in the cockpit of a 747

for seven years,

some of them spent flying by Albania.

We were issued navigational maps.

And over Albania, where the words

"Warning, aircraft infringing upon

"non-free flying territory.

"May be fired upon without warning".

Now, Captain Chun had a navigational map

and you'd better believe

that over Russia,

the same warning was issued.

If a pilot is going to go to sleep

with his feet up on the dash,

it won't be during a checkpoint.

- Let's say they did make
a mistake in the beginning,

and it just compounded along the way.

- Even so,

there are many ways to tell where you are

by the checkpoints.

If it wasn't their INS,

their radar would have told them

that there was a landmass where
it was not supposed to be.

- If they reported their position

and they were in the wrong
place at the wrong time,

why wouldn't somebody on the ground

tell them that they were off course?

- Because the crew didn't
report its actual location.

They reported their position

as if they were on course.

- You're saying the crew lied?

- That's what occurred to me.

Yes.

At first, I thought it might
be an equipment failure.

I mean when I go up in a plane,

I depend on that equipment.

I want to know where
I'm going to come down.

- But it wasn't the equipment?

- No.

When there is an investigation,

we start with the crash

and work it back all the way
to the beginning of the flight

to try to find out what failed,

what went wrong to cause the accident.

- And what about oh oh seven?

- It just doesn't hold together.

There is no logical way to explain

how Chun got where he did by accident.

- It's just so hard to believe.

- Yes.

And I am absolutely appalled
by the possibilities.

People put their faith
in a commercial airline

and that is a trust that
simply can not be betrayed.

- I mean who in their right mind

would jeopardize innocent people?

- There were 269 passengers whose families

are probably asking the
same questions you are.

(group chatter)

- I need a partner for bridge tonight.

- Can't.

- [Lilian] Well, you
can't say I didn't ask.

- Lilian, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to be rude.

- Oh, it's okay.

- This is a study of the incident

by an international investigative team.

It's called the

ICAO Report.

- And?

- And they say it was an accident

and that the pilot was inattentive.

- Maybe he was.

- Lilian, this report was rushed.

It was done in less than three months.

- Would it change the facts
if it took three years?

- Maybe.

I mean I just don't understand.

I mean even in their own report,

these people say that
they did not have access

to all of the radar tapes.

Now why would the government
hold back radar tapes?

- You're off on a bad track.

You want to blame somebody.

You can't accept that this just happened.

A horrible accident.

- Now this organization had
only one crash investigation

to it's credit.

Now how can this be trusted?

- Why don't you just yell
at the top of your lungs

that the government is lying.

You have to trust the people in power

that they know our
interests better than we do.

What choice do we have?

- It was a good film Nan,

trust me.

- Did I snore?

- You even whistled.

- Oh stop.

I'm just so tired.

- Well, you've been butting heads

with every bureaucrat in town,

with Korean Airlines.

If I were you,

I'd be tired too.

- I don't want to fight with them David.

I'm sure I'm not the only one

who wants a list of the
relatives' names and addresses.

- Honey, it's a matter of privacy.

- The victims personal effects

was a spread in Life Magazine.

Faces twisted with grief.

Elizabeth is in Newsweek.

I mean there's nothing private about it.

- You're gonna be at this
for the rest of your life.

- You know, the newspapers
printed a list of the victims.

Maybe that will be a place to start.

- You've got to put your
life back together again.

Help me help you do that.

- If only we could find each other,

maybe,

maybe we could look after each other.

Maybe we could do something.

- Do what?

- I don't know.

- Come to the cape with me.

Change your mind.

- Going away for the weekend with you

isn't going to help anything.

- Sorry if I'm taking time
away from your dead son.

- I'm sorry.

Sorry.

(radio chatter)

I have listened to the tape over and over

and it is frightening.

- The words were very
difficult to hear mother.

- You know Bob Allardyce heard it.

He sent it to an acoustics expert

and he agreed with Bob,

that the last radio
transmission from the plane

was very, very strange.

- Mom, why don't we go in
and buy something pretty.

- Oh, no, no, no,

you go on.

I'm gonna entertain the baby.

It's alright darling.

- Okay, well,

he has some toys if he gets cranky.

- Alright.

We're gonna watch all the people.

There we go.

Excuse me,

I don't suppose you remember me.

My son was on the Korean Airliner.

- Yes, I'm surprised you remembered me.

There were so many of us out there

at your home that day.

- Well, I suppose it's
all part of the job.

There's a lot of new information
that has come to light

since then,

and I hardly see anything
about it on the television

these days.

- I think what we came to understand

Mrs. ?

- Moore.

- Mrs. Moore is that it was a
tragic set of circumstances.

- Yes, yes of course.

But that doesn't explain anything.

- There really is no reason
to keep reporting it.

- There have been developments.

I mean we were told
things in the beginning

that turned out to be quite untrue.

- I just work for a local station.

- Did you know that at first,

the transcript of the Russian plane

did not include a warning

to the US Airliner?

Now that was the version

that the US presented
in the United Nations.

- Mrs. Moore, I'm really sorry,

but I have to go.

- Now there is a far more complete version

of that same transcript.

And everybody says that,

that it's quite clear
that the Russian pilot

did warn the airliner

by firing tracer bullets

and by rocking his wings.

- What difference would that make?

- Well all the difference in the world.

I mean if the pilot was warned,

why didn't he land that airliner?

Why didn't he comply?

- I haven't the vaguest idea.

- Maybe the pilot knew
exactly where he was.

Maybe he wasn't innocently lost.

- What would be the point?

- Well to trigger a military alert

so that we could study the
Soviet Defense maneuvers.

- Who gave the orders?

The military?

The head of the CIA?

The President?

Who are you pointing the finger at?

- I don't know.

But you have got to keep reporting this.

- Mrs. Moore, I won't
report what I can't prove.

- Yes, but the government
has held back tapes

and records.

Why did they say that the
plane was safe on Sakhalin?

Don't you walk away from me young lady.

You come back here.

Listen to me.

I lost my son.

- Momma,

the cab's on its way.

Momma?

- He wrote a story about his life.

It was a long time ago.

- When we come back from Korea,

let me help you put his things away.

- I'm afraid of forgetting him.

- Oh momma.

- Who was he?

Why was he put here?

Why do we think about these things

when it's too late?

(somber music)

(group chatter)
(crying)

- Excuse me,

I'm sorry.

I don't know if you remember me.

My name is Elizabeth Moore,

and I was here in Korea last year.

- I'm sorry.

Those first few days
are still a blur to me.

I'm Anna,

Anna Nillson.

- My mother and I,

well we were hoping that the relatives

can get together at the
Shilha Hotel tomorrow.

- We need to know each other,

all of us.

- My two children were on that plane.

(somber music)

(knock on door)

- Yes?

- You're organizing a meeting tomorrow?

- Yes we are.

- For the relatives?

Is that right?

- What do you want?

- Our parents died on that flight.

- We need to be careful.

We don't have the same freedom here

that you enjoy in America.

- We want to know what has
been said in your magazines

and your newspapers.

Here has been kept very quite.

- Well some people feel that

the plane

simply strayed.

But we have been presented with a theory

that says that it didn't.

- Captain Chun had been chosen

to be the personal pilot
for the President of Korea.

He was a heavily decorated military pilot.

How could he get lost?

- The plane was only one
minute and 38 seconds

from free air space.

- He was probably counting on the Soviets

not shooting at an airliner.

- We have a tape that was released

by the Japanese.

It's the last transmission that was heard

after oh oh seven was hit.

Only one phrase was verified

by the acoustics expert.

But he was also able to tell us

what was not on there.

- Even in Chun was innocently lost,

he still must have known

something was horribly wrong.

- And still,

the crew never gave their position

and never declared an emergency.

(radio chatter)

Now, it goes very quickly.

Listen.

There's going to be a bloodbath.

Real bad.

(radio chatter)

- What if people came forward

and said yes, we knew.

Yes, they sent the plane.

That would not bring my daughter back.

That would not bring your
father and stepmother back.

If people fried in hell for this,

it would not bring anyone back.

- That's true.

But I can't understand
why the whole country

isn't screaming for an explanation.

(crowd agrees)

- Because,

they only remember that
an airplane went down.

They don't feel robbed the way we do.

- Do you understand what I'm saying?

Do you see my logic?

- I just can't pretend it didn't happen.

- Bernard, we have to be in charge here.

We are the ones who
makes something happen.

- They went to school

in the Philippines.

I let them go alone this time.

Peter was going to meet them.

- Anna, you can't blame yourself

for not being there.

- Were they frightened?

I was not there to hold them.

- Has anyone not put their name or address

on this list?

- I haven't.

- I'll be sure everyone gets copies.

- I think that we should
formalize the group

by having Anna

and Elizabeth be the chairpersons.

I'm so glad that we found each other.

- No one in the world
knows how we feel but us.

- Perhaps, as a group,

we can find a way to accept

what we cannot change.

- Perhaps as a group,

we can change what we cannot accept.

(soft music)

- You're gonna be in the center of it.

You're a spokesperson now.

- You know, a year ago Elizabeth,

I could barely get out of bed.

Now I'm angry.

I want to know the truth.

- Are you scared?

- Yes.

- How did John get in his head

that he could make a difference in China?

Was it courage or craziness?

- Maybe you need both.

I'm gonna have to think about him

if I get up to speak in front of people.

- Do you think it's possible
to be heard in all of this?

- I think it's more possible here

than anywhere.

(soft music)

- [Man On Radio] I don't
care what you say lady,

the Russians blew one into
some plane out of the sky.

- Yes, you're right.

I don't think anyone is
saying there is any excuse

for what the Russians did.

- Well, you seem to feel

that this may not have been an accident.

- What I'm saying is that we don't know.

I mean was it a coincidence

that it flew over two of
Russian's most sensitive

military bases?

- [Man On Radio] It was no coincidence.

There are Russian bases
all over that area.

Come on lady, you can read

a conspiracy theory into anything.

If all this was something
the CIA cooked up,

don't you think by now

the papers would have had a field day?

- Okay.

Also with us today is
Captain Paul Billings,

a commercial 747 pilot,

11 years experience in the cockpit.

Captain, why do you think

that the plane was so far off course?

- Look, we're never going
to know what happened

in that airplane.

But I can tell you one thing for sure,

nobody flies into the
Soviet Union on purpose.

The Russians shoot down planes.

We all know that.

Even if you were on a spy mission,

you wouldn't fly into Russia.

It's suicide.

- So, you don't think
it was on a spy mission?

- Personally, I find it
very hard to believe.

The government has refused to release

classified information
that could jeopardize

American interests.

No one disputes this.

But, bureaucratic stonewalling

does not exactly prove mass murder.

- Okay.

Next caller.

You're on the air.

- [Woman On Radio] I'm with you Nan.

I think people have short memories.

This isn't the first time.

- What do you mean?

- [Woman On Radio] 1978, a plane flew over

a Russian military base also.

- A commercial airline with
innocent people aboard?

- [Woman On Radio] Yes.

Like double oh seven,

it was another Korean Airlines flight.

It was shot at, but it was able to land.

Two people died though.

- What was the outcome?

- [Woman On Radio] The
Russians detained the plane,

but they finally let the people go.

What was wild was the passengers knew

they were headed in the wrong direction.

When they looked out the window,

the sun was on the
wrong side of the cabin.

- If the passengers realized this,

what do you think was
going on in the cockpit?

- Well that's the
question we need answered

for oh oh seven.

- Okay, that's about all the time we have.

Thank you to Nan Moore,

Captain Paul Billings.

I'm Richard Edward Green.

Talk Radio, next week,

relationships in the 80s.

Thank you very much.

You were great.

Okay, wrap.

- You've been making some
pretty strong statements.

- Well it's part of our democracy

to be able to ask for information.

- Nan, you've got an ax to grind.

You've been through a lot.

- Lilian, tell me it
hasn't crossed your mind.

Don't you wonder

if that plane wasn't wrong

because someone got so excited

at the prospect of tripping Soviet radar.

Maybe it was planned.

Did you know that there was
another Korean airliner,

KAL015 that was just 15
minutes behind oh oh seven?

Now that pilot, Captain Park,

spoke to oh oh seven.

He even admits that he
relayed some of oh oh seven's

false position reports.

- You idiot.

It is only a matter of time

til all of this catches up with you.

Look around you.

Who do you think you work for?

- The government.

The government that promises
us freedom of speech

and justice.

Are we talking about the
same government Lilian?

- I have always admired you.

I have watched you go through a divorce,

get a job for the first time in your life,

raise your children.

I have seen you make it through things

that would have crushed other people.

Don't blow it now.

You'll get through this.

- I don't want to get through this Lilian.

The price has been too high

to just get through this.

(soft music)

- I can't begin to fathom
the pain and horror

that you have

personally experienced.

- As the relatives of
those who were lost ...

- I know that you haven't

gotten the information

that would

clear up the circumstances of this flight.

And I know that this only prolongs

your grief and anguish.

- Congressman Overstar,

we are here

because an investigation

would fall under the
Transportation Committee,

which you chair.

- Yes,

but emotions are high.

I can understand your feelings

about wanting an investigation.

- Don't you think there should be

a more extensive
investigation, Congressman,

after all 63 Americans
died on this flight,

including one of your colleagues,

Congressman MacDonald?

- My position is not all
that different than yours.

I have been asking questions too.

I have been running into
the same brick wall.

- There are 1300 documents

that have been held back
by the State Department.

We need to see them.

And we need to subpoena
all radar operators,

all air traffic controllers ...

- First, the horse,

then the cart.

See if I don't get more answers,

I don't have the groundwork I need to,

to push for a congressional investigation.

- With due respect,

is there any reason why you couldn't start

a preliminary investigation

where you could question

the ground controllers in Anchorage,

the FAA in Washington.

And perhaps you would
learn enough evidence

that would support

a formal investigation?

- We never buried our dead.

We never got any answers

as to why they were
flying where they were.

They bought a ticket in New York.

They were going to Seoul.

And they ended up shot
over Soviet air space.

And no one has given us answers

as to why when we said
goodbye to our relatives

in New York,

they never came back to us.

- It's money.

See, it all comes down to money.

We've had to tighten our belts

because of the Gramm-Rudman Act.

Now it's the end of the budget year.

I don't have the funds to
send a team of investigators

to Anchorage or New York.

- It costs 80 dollars to fly the shuttle

from Washington to New York.

- Well there's more to it than that.

Now why don't we meet again
in a couple of months.

There will be a new budget then.

- Just ridiculous.

(laughter)

They spent 18 years in Washington,

then all of a sudden,

she announces they're selling their house.

Poof, they're gone.

- Well that's Foreign Service.

You had to expect that one day

he'd end up in some place

foreign.

(laughter)

- Raise your hand if you believe

that he was in Foreign Service?

- Let's behave.

You don't expect him to go around

calling himself an operative,

do you?

- Well whatever happened,
we'll never know.

- Probably not.

Straight answers are hard to come by.

- Well it is our town you know.

Let's not bit the hand that feeds us.

- Billions for defense.

A hair trigger,

and we still the audacity
to goat each other.

- Nan, please let it go for the evening.

- Nan, the reality is

it's tit for tat.

It's the only way we know to prevent war.

- We are at war.

Don't you think we should wake up

and understand that.

- This is a party.

Let's enjoy it.

- Nan, it's hard to make
sense out of something

that was just bad luck.

- Well I'm sorry,

but I find it hard to believe

that the plane that my son was on

flew over two Russian military bases

because of bad luck.

- Nan, we're really very sorry.

Very sorry.

- When our children were growing up,

I remember you held you little boy

when he fell and he hurt his knee.

We all did that for our children.

We loved our children.

- Nan, why don't you come inside

and help me set up the coffee.

- If we don't press

for answers and accountability,

how do you know that your son is safe,

or your son,

or your son?

All you're gonna be left with

is memories of holding your little boy

while he cries into your shoulder.

- Nan.

- Nan.

- Go back to the party.

- You're pushing away your friend.

Why?

- They don't want to hear.
- No they don't.

I don't.

Not 24 hours a day

for over two years, enough.

Nan.

There's no place for me
in your life anymore.

(soft music)

- Anna, I'm so sorry to call so late,

but I needed to talk.

Anna, I have been so daffy.

Well I made a fuss at a party and,

it's all over with David and me.

Uh huh.

Anna, I don't want to alarm you but,

we've got to be prepared.

They're sending personal belongings

to the relatives.

They're sending us

what's left.

(soft music)

400 dollars.

- Who have you been calling?

New York.

San Francisco.

Massachusetts?

Mother.

- Well I have to keep the
relatives up on things.

Sometimes we just need to talk.

- Have you ever heard of a postage stamp?

- When Ann Nillson tells me

that she can't take a swim

without thinking of her children

in the Sea of Japan,

she needs to hear a voice.

- Mother,

you have cut yourself
off from your friends.

I don't think you allow yourself
to have any fun anymore.

- Well, priorities change.

- Mom.

John embraced life.

You gave him that.

That's who you were.

I can't stand to watch who you've become.

I love you.

I miss you.

- Mary, you have a
wonderful time ahead of you.

Your little boy is going
to develop and grow.

You'll see him set off on his own

and you're gonna be bursting with pride.

And maybe then you'll
understand my having to know

why my son only lived

for 28 years.

- Nan, you must appreciate

that not everyone is of the same thinking.

- See, whether you like it or not Nan,

Sy Hersh is a Pulitzer Prize
winning investigative reporter.

- That's the problem.

His name brings credibility
to his arguments

and makes it feel as if
there's nothing left to say.

- I understand that.

But Phil Donahue is not
having us on his show

so that we can agree
with Sy Hersh's theory

that the plane flew over Russia

accidentally.

- That's right.

- What we all hold in
common are questions.

We see evidence that makes us
want to know what happened.

- Yes.

But we have got to voice

all of our doubts

as strongly as we can,

or we don't have a hope of prompting

a congressional investigation.

- In my heart,

I think it is wrong

to hold our government up to attack.

It is wrong to say these beliefs are facts

and use them

to humiliate our government.

- But we have facts that
raise questions Bernard.

And in our democratic society,

our government has to answer to us.

Our government is us.

- I know better than you
what this government is.

You don't appreciate the
country in which you live.

You never had to live in another place,

experience other leaders.

- Yes, but Bernard even if
our worst fears are realized,

the fact that we were able to speak out,

the fact that we were able
to have an investigation

that might uncover the truth

makes me have even more
faith in our system,

have more belief in our country.

- What has brought us together is grief.

I hope that whatever it is
you are looking for as a group

will bring you peace.

But, I cannot participate

in this public outcry.

- Bernard, it's more than two years,

and we still don't have all the answers.

It deserves a fight.

- I do not want the memory of my daughter

to be perpetuated

by rage and distrust.

I must find a different answer for myself.

- There is a group of people

who monitor the Soviet Union constantly.

They're in the National Security Agency,

the men who work for ...

That's our hush hush secret agency.

These people have, the
NSA has stations all over

the far east.

In Alaska,

in Hawaii,

in Japan.

They sit there and monitor
the Russians continually.

I've got to those people.

I've talked to those people.

That's one of the interesting parts

of what I did,

is I got them to tell me about

how the administration
manipulated the intelligence.

None of them, and I've talked
to 10 or 12 of those people,

none of them had any advanced notice

of a flight that day.

And there's no way you're gonna send

a spy plane in without having the people

whose function it is

to monitor Soviet radar

be aware of it.

And in fact,

we sort of stumbled around a little bit.

We really didn't know what was going on

for four or five hours,

and the first messages
about a plane being lost

were not filed to Washington by our NSA

to the president

until four or five hours later.

I'm absolutely clear on that,

that there was no advanced notice

of a spy plane.

All I can tell you,

if it makes you happier,

you can't rule anything.

But I think really,

the answer is that it wasn't a spy plane.

If it looks like a duck

and walks like a duck,

it's a duck.

It wasn't a spy plane.

- You must share her,

indignation at what appears to be

the attitude that this is a historic event

and it's over and we're moving on.

- My indignation is really
focused a little differently,

but it's there too.

I think our government has an obligation,

the reason the government
hasn't talked much about this

is a little bit of an
embarrassment over the fact

that there was so much
intelligence available,

about the fact that it had
not been identified before

it was shot down.

That's the reason obviously

we have not given full scale

debriefings on the issue
to anybody who asks.

Because it involves
intelligence collection too,

they will tell you,

but the real reason is is because

they manipulated the intelligence

for political purposes.

That's why you're not
getting the information.

I'm mad about that.

I don't think a full scale investigation

by a congressional committee,

or by anybody into how
the plane got off course,

I don't know what it's
gonna prove at this point.

I don't, what are you gonna do?

You can't talk to the pilot.

(applause)

- [Phil] Nan's son, John

was 27 when he died aboard

this airliner.

You wanted to add what?

- Well, one thing I will say is that

I've had people in Intelligence tell me

that it was for electronic
intelligence purposes.

I've also had them say,

"oh, they didn't think
it would be shot down."

now in order for you all to believe

the thesis that he

is pushing,

you have to believe

that the plane went over
Petro Pavlov's base,

turned,

and came down over Sakhalin base

accidentally.

Now I find that very hard to believe.

I mean, we also have to
deal with certain items

that we have that are factual.

There's a tape

that was made

in the Anchorage air controller's tower

and behind the air controller,

the background noise is

"we should warn them".

That's what they said

and they didn't warn them.

Now why didn't they warn them?

There were 25 children
under 12 on that plane.

- [Phil] And we'll be
back in just a moment.

("Phil Donahue" Theme song)
(applause)

I'm not sure that I was as
effective as I wanted to be.

I was so nervous.

- You did just fine, Nan.

What you said and how you said it

are going to make people care.

- Bob, would you be a speaker

on the panel after the memorial service?

It'll be in New York this year.

After the national
exposure we got on Donahue,

the press is paying more attention to us.

- Nan, the relatives committee in Japan

have pressured their government into

releasing another radar tape.

What I have to say is very unsettling.

Nan, despite what Kasmin said,

the radar data confirms

that the plane

continued to fly after it
was hit by the missiles.

Chun had control.

(dramatic music)

It was a gradual descent.

- Then they knew they were dying.

They were in pain.

Oh God.

- Early in the flight,

when it appeared that
oh oh seven rendezvoused

with the RC135,

Chun lost eight minutes.

- He lost eight minutes?

- Remember, but,

if we accept that Chun's job

was to goad the Russians into revealing

their channels of communications,

then logically it had
to be when the satellite

would be in position to
collect the information.

There are observatories
in England and Denmark

that confirm.

A US spy satellite was
orbiting nearly overhead.

Chun,

well he had a schedule to keep.

- And the passengers?

- Chun pushed the plane to the limit.

(slow suspenseful music)

At those speeds,

it would certainly not feel
like ordinary turbulence.

If Chun had held his course
after he'd crossed Kamchatka,

oh oh seven would have been safe.

But he didn't.

As he neared Sakhalin Island,

he made an abrupt turn

towards Soviet territory.

Six minutes later,

he turned westward,

again positioning himself

over a military base.

The Soviet Air Defense was on high alert.

But somehow a squadron from Kamchatka

had been unable to find the plane.

Another squadron took off from Sakhalin.

One plane, and SU 15

piloted by Major Kasmin

found oh oh seven.

(speaking foreign language)

Later, the Russian pilot claimed

he flashed his lights and rocked his wings

and an internationally recognized warning.

(speaking foreign language)

At this point,

the copilot did a very odd thing.

He called Tokyo ground control

and reported a false altitude.

And then, he asked for permission

to climb to 35000 feet,

but he only climbed

to 32,000.

The radio transmission was very muffled.

And so are the ones that followed.

It sounds like the copilot was wearing

his oxygen mask.

I think there's only one reason

he would have been wearing an oxygen mask

at this point.

He knew he was in trouble.

Kasmin says he fired four
rounds of cannon bursts

to warn oh oh seven.

I believe these bursts of tracer fire

were evident to Chun.

Was Chun gambling that he
could outfox the Russians?

Suddenly oh oh seven slowed down.

(group chatter)

(speaking foreign language)

The Soviet plane almost
overshot the airliner.

If it had,

Chun might have reached
international airspace

before Kasmin could regroup.

But that's not what happened.

(speaking foreign language)

(group chatter)

(speaking foreign language)

Oh oh seven's fate was sealed.

Computers in Kasmin's fighter took over.

All he had to do

was wait for the command.

(slow suspenseful music)

(speaking foreign language)

Military ground control on Sakhalin

worked at a state of panic

as they tried to reach
their key decision makers

in Moscow.

If the plane escaped,

there would be dire consequences
for those responsible.

Kasmin received his orders to fire.

(speaking foreign language)

(screams)
(alarms)

(speaking foreign language)

(slow suspenseful music)

When the missile struck,

oh oh seven was only a
minute and 38 seconds away

from international airspace.

I wish the story ended there Nan.

Kasmin said the target is destroyed,

but he was wrong.

What has been learned

is that oh oh seven

flew for an additional
11 and a half minutes.

Fragments from the explosion probably tore

into the fuselage.

As Chun struggled to
control the plane he knew

that the cabin had suffered

sudden decompression.

(alarms)
(screams)

But at that altitude,

the air would have condensed

into a fog.

It had to be freezing at that altitude,

and yet the plane was descending slowly.

I figure Chun couldn't
risk putting the plane

under the stress of a rapid descent

even though he knew
people were suffocating.

Shortly after the plane was hit,

Chun was on the radio
with Tokyo ground control.

(radio chatter)

Captain Chun flew for at
least 11 and a half minutes,

never a call for mayday.

He never gave his position.

(slow suspenseful music)

(explosion)

- That is Rachael.

She was

17 when that picture was taken.

- She was very beautiful.

I didn't think I would
have the opportunity

to talk to you at the memorial service.

- I'm not going to be there Nan.

- Are you sure there's
nothing that I can say

that would change your mind?

I heard about the scholarship

that you've created in
your daughter's name.

- That is my answer.

You see,

I can live with it in that way.

- For three years,

I've been searching for
the reasons why John died.

- Three years.

Isn't that an answer right there.

- We lost our children Bernard.

- How long will you continue?

Until you are a bitter woman?

Until you loose the capacity to love

those who are still alive?

- There was a spirit in John that I

never really understood

until he was gone.

He felt

that the individual

could make a difference.

And I won't turn my back on that.

Have you ever wondered
why they were put here?

What was the purpose of their lives?

- That is what is so tragic

about loosing young people.

All that is left of their legacy

are the possibilities.

Why did you come to see me?

- John was going to China to teach.

He wanted to exchange ideas

with a different people.

I think he felt as you did,

that there was only

one way to put an end to weapons,

and mistrust.

And that was by learning,

by understanding.

And when I heard about your scholarship,

I knew that

it also honored my son,

and I wanted you to know this.

- Perhaps there will come a day

when there are no missiles,

no fear,

no war.

And a plane flying over another country

will always be seen to be a welcome thing.

- I hope for that too Bernard.

(solemn music)

The families of American victims

of the KALOO7 tragedy,

a support group formed in 1983,

held a memorial service today

to commemorate the dead

on the third anniversary of the disaster.

We want a full federal investigation.

It would be a dangerous precedent

to allow this matter

to simply fade into oblivion.

There are many unanswered
questions about the flight.

And while nothing can ever
mitigate our condemnation

of the Soviet's inhuman act,

these questions suggest

that some responsibility for the tragedy

may hit closer to home.

There were 25 children on that plane.

Your child could have been there.

My son bought his ticket in the Village.

Your children could have been on there.

(soft music)

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