The crash of Korean Airlines Flight 007 near Sakhalin Island on September 1, 1983, remains shrouded in mystery. Mistaken for an American spy plane when it veered into Soviet airspace, the 747 was intercepted by a MiG pilot. This transcript of the cockpit voice recorder begins just as the aircraft was struck by a heat-seeking missile, and covers seven minutes in which it plunged 35,000 feet (10,668 m) into the ocean.
CAPTAIN: What happened?
CO-PILOT: What?
CAPTAIN: Retard throttles.
CO-PILOT: Engines normal.
CAPTAIN: Landing gear.
COCKPIT: [Sound of cabin altitude warning.]
CAPTAIN: Landing gear.
COCKPIT: [Sound of altitude deviation warning; sound of autopilot disconnect warning.]
CAPTAIN: Altitude is going up. Altitude is going up. Speed brake is coming out.
CO-PILOT: What? What?
CAPTAIN: Check it out.
COCKPIT: [Sound of public address chime for automatic cabin announcement.]
CO-PILOT: I am not able to drop altitude; now unable.
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Attention, emergency descent.
CAPTAIN: Altitude is going up. This is not working. Manually.
CO-PILOT: Cannot do manually.
COCKPIT: Attention emergency descent [in Japanese]. [Sound of autopilot disconnect warning.]
CO-PILOT: Not working manually also. Engines are normal, sir.
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Put out your cigarette. This is an emergency descent. Put out your cigarette. This is an emergency descent.
CAPTAIN: Is it power compression?
FLIGHT ENGINEER: Is that right?
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Put out your cigarette. This is an emergency descent.
FLIGHT ENGINEER: All of both …
CAPTAIN: Is that right?
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Put the mask over your nose and mouth, and adjust the headband.
CO-PILOT: Tokyo radio, Korean Air zero zero seven.
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Put the mask over your nose and mouth, and adjust the headband.
TOKYO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Korean Air zero zero seven, Tokyo.
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Put the mask over your nose and mouth, and adjust the headband.
FLIGHT ENGINEER: All decompression.
CAPTAIN: Rapid decompression. Descend to one zero thousand [10,000 feet].
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Attention, emergency descent. Attention, emergency descent.
FLIGHT ENGINEER: Now … we have to set this.
TOKYO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Korean Air zero zero seven, radio check on one zero zero four eight.
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Attention, emergency descent.
FLIGHT ENGINEER: Speed. Stand by. Stand by. Stand by. Stand by. Set.
PUBLIC ADDRESS RECORDING: Put out your cigarette. This is an emergency descent. Put out your cigarette. This is an emergency descent. Put out your cigarette. This is an emergency descent. Put the mask over your nose and mouth, and adjust the headband. Put the mask over your nose and mouth, and adjust … [Recording ends]