WORLD IN BRIEF : SOVIET UNION : Airliner Spared in 1978, KGB Discloses

The KGB disclosed that a Soviet pilot ignored commands to destroy a South Korean airliner that strayed into Soviet airspace 13 years ago, the official Tass news agency reported. The incident occurred five years before a Soviet interceptor shot down Korean Airlines Flight 007, killing 269 people. In 1978, pilot Alexander Bosov was ordered to “destroy the violator,” the agency said, but opted instead to fire a warning shot that damaged the wing of the Korean Airlines Boeing 707, forcing it to land on a frozen lake. Tass said the information came from KGB Chief Vladimir A. Kryuchkov.