3 Decades Later, Finnair Pilots Report Dramatic Close Encounter With a Missile

jones_supa (887896) writes It has come to light that a Finnair-owned McDonnell Douglas DC-10 passenger jet narrowly avoided being shot down by a missile while en route to Helsinki 27 years ago, claimed the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday. The two co-pilots, Esko Kaukiainen and Markku Soininen, describe how the event happened during a routine flight back to Helsinki from Japan in December 1987. When the plane was crossing the Arctic Ocean, a missile appeared in the distance. The crew thought it was a Russian weather rocket on its way into space, but the missile began heading straight towards the aircraft. Just 20 seconds away from a collision, the missile exploded. The captain, who was resting at the time of the incident, never officially reported the event. The question of who fired the missile has never been definitively answered. But the pilots believe it was launched from either the Soviet Union's Kola Peninsula or a submarine in the Barents Sea. They speculate that the missile could have been a misfire or that the plane was used as training target.

Comments

first explosion

[Anonymous Coward]

bam!

Re:first explosion

[Zanadou]

I think you mean Whaam!.

Re:Defies credulity

[Skarjak]

That's because they're really good at it.

Re:Nice timing

[HornWumpus]

The Ruskies aren't going to be invading Finland again. Not after the embarrassment of the last time.

When winter changes sides and goes against the Russians, they notice.