A photograph of the plane taken just four months before the shooting
a tragic accident that killed 269 people, including crew and passengers
The captain of the plane was an elite pilot who was also a deputy presidential plane, and even if there was a mistake of going off course on the day of the accident, the Soviet Union knew it was a civil aircraft and shot it The Soviet fighter pilot who shot down also admitted in an interview after the collapse of the Soviet Union that he knew it was a civil aircraftThe Soviets initially made excuses and claimed they weren’t at fault, but they said the truth of the incident was revealed to the United Nations when Japan disclosed the wiretapping of the Soviet Air Force Base Because of this, the Soviet Union changed all the frequencies, and Japan was no longer able to intercept it
President Reagan declared that the GPS would be open to the private sector