Tape Missing From Jet’s Recorder, Seoul Says

The recording tape was missing from one of the two “black boxes” Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin handed over in hopes of clearing up why a South Korean jetliner was shot down over Soviet territory in 1983, a South Korean official said Saturday.

Chang Sang Hyon, vice minister of transportation, said the flight-data recorder did not contain its tape, which is believed to be key to determining why Korean Air Lines Flight 007 veered off course, violating Soviet airspace.

During his three-day visit to South Korea this month, Yeltsin gave officials a case containing what he said were the plane’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders and their tapes.

Only the cockpit voice recorder actually contained its tape, Chang said.

The plane, with 269 people aboard, was shot down near Sakhalin Island by a Soviet fighter plane. All aboard were killed.

Ministry officials said the South Korean Embassy in Moscow would ask Russia to provide the tape if it was left in Moscow.

“I don’t think President Yeltsin intentionally left it out,” Chang told reporters.

Determining the cause of the plane’s errant course could affect the outcome of pending lawsuits by victims’ relatives. Korean Air has denied human error was responsible. At the time, Soviet officials charged that the Boeing 747 was spying.

Yeltsin’s return of the black boxes was a gesture in response to South Korea’s pledge to reopen billions of dollars in loans to Russia.