Massacre 747

Al Stray is manager of the Port Credit Public Library.

Events before, during, and after the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 are the focus of Rohmer’s thirteenth book. What happened in the early morning hours of September 1, 1983? Why was a passenger plane loaded with 269 people flying over secret Soviet military bases? Did the crew know the plane was off course? Who gave the order to shoot down the 747? These are a few of the 21 intriguing questions the author, a former air force officer, sets out to answer.

You are there in the cockpit of the SU-15 all-weather fighter as it searches for an intruder at 33,000 feet; in the fuselage of the 747 as the passengers sleep unaware of the two missiles streaking toward them; and in the cockpit of the 747 with Capt. Chun, an ex-air force pilot and known risk taker. Was he taking the Great Circle Route between Anchorage and Seoul to save time and earn a bonus? Did his plane’s navigational equipment fail? Or was the crew on a spy mission for the Americans?

World attention seized on the latter possibility thanks to President Reagan’s release of information about an earlier reconnaissance flight that night that the Russians had not detected. Rohmer strips away the layers of Soviet disinformation to present what is a plausible scenario, given the nature of the air line, its owners, and its pilots.

Massacre 747 reads like a thriller. While some of what the author describes is supposition, Rohmer’s research is impressive. Since neither of the 747’s two black boxes was apparently recovered, we will never know for sure whether Capt. Chun was intentionally off course. However, Mr. Rohmer’s reasoned approach to a very emotional, tragic event is welcome reading. Truth has once again been shown to be stranger than fiction. Unfortunately for the crew and passengers of Flight 007, it was also fatal.