View source for Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A

{{Short description|1968 aviation incident}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name = Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A
| occurrence_type = Incident
| image = Douglas DC-8-63CF, Icelandair AN0999168.jpg
| image_upright = 1.15
| alt = 
| caption = The aircraft involved in 1983, while operating with Icelandic Airlines
| date = July 1, 1968
| type = Forced landing
| site = Kuril Islands, Soviet Union
| coordinates = 
| aircraft_type = Douglas DC-8 Super 63CF
| aircraft_name = 
| operator = [[Seaboard World Airlines]] (chartered as a troop transport)
| tail_number = N8631
| origin = [[McChord Air Force Base]], Washington
| stopover = 
| stopover0 = 
| stopover1 = 
| stopover2 = 
| stopover3 = 
| last_stopover = 
| destination = [[Yokota Air Base]], Japan
| occupants = 238
| passengers = 214
| crew = 24
| injuries = 0
| fatalities = 0
| missing = 
| survivors = 238
}}

'''Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A''' was a military charter flight carrying 214 American troops bound for [[South Vietnam]]. On July 1, 1968, the plane was intercepted by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] jets after it unintentionally violated Soviet airspace. It was forced to land on one of the Soviet-controlled [[Kuril Islands]] with all 238 Americans aboard being detained for two days.<ref name="time 07-12-68"/>

==Background==
On the afternoon of July 1, 1968, a [[Seaboard World Airlines]] [[Douglas DC-8]] Super 63CF departed [[McChord Air Force Base]], near [[Seattle, Washington]] bound for [[Yokota Air Base]] in [[Japan]].  The plane was [[aviator|piloted]] by  Joseph D. Tosolini, with copilot Henry Treger, [[flight engineer]] Earl Scott, and navigator Lawrence Guernon.<ref name="nytimes 07-01-68">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/07/01/archives/jet-with-214-servicemen-intercepted-by-russians-forced-to-land-in.html?sq=jet%2520with%2520214%2520servicemen&scp=1&st=cse|title=Jet With 214 Servicemen Intercepted By Russians, Forced To Land In Kuriles|last=Fox|first=Sylvan|date=July 1, 1968|work=New York Times <!--accessed=January 4, 2010-->}}</ref> Because the plane was on its maiden flight, the crew also included a check pilot and a check engineer.<ref name="nytimes 07-01-68"/> It was carrying 214 American troops and 24 crew members who were en route to [[South Vietnam]] via Japan.

The aircraft strayed westward of its planned track as it came into range of Japan, passing along the Soviet-controlled Kuril Islands.  Japanese radar controllers notified the crew of the error when it was about {{convert|80|nmi|km}} off course.<ref name="time 07-12-68">{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,712119,00.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204081730/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,712119,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 4, 2013|title=Diplomacy: Interlude in Iturup|date=July 12, 1968|publisher=Time <!--accessed=January 4, 2010-->}}</ref> Accounts differ as to whether the message was unintelligible to Flight 253A due to static<ref name="time 07-12-68"/> or whether the message was received but the crew did not have time to react. Two Soviet MIG fighter aircraft,<ref name="time 07-12-68"/> piloted by Yu. B. Alexandrov, V.A. Igonin, I.F. Evtoshenko and I.K. Moroz, intercepted the DC-8 at 2320 UTC (8:20 am),{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} and directed it to follow by firing warning shots.<ref name="time 07-12-68"/>  The DC-8 was led to [[Burevestnik Airport|Burevestnik]] airfield on the Soviet-controlled [[Iturup Island]],<ref name="nytimes 07-01-68"/> landing at 2339 UTC (8:39 am), on the {{convert|2400|m}} concrete runway.<ref name="Eastwood">''[http://www.seaboardairlines.org/misc/kuriles.htm Down in the Kuriles], Bill Eastwood (crewmember), http://www.seaboardairlines.org/misc/kuriles.htm</ref>  No damage to the plane was reported by the captain as he shut down the engines at 8:42 am.<ref name="nytimes 07-01-68"/>

Burevestnik was a Soviet interceptor airfield served only by a military post and a small village. Initially all the Americans were confined to the aircraft and allowed outside to a radius of about {{convert|100|m}} of the plane.  Food in the galley ran out the next day, and the Soviets delivered military rations of brown bread, canned cheese, butter, weak coffee, beef bouillon, noodles, and cigarettes.  The female cabin [[flight crew]]  were allowed to sleep in a maintenance building on the second night.

==Negotiations==
Diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Moscow began almost immediately with U.S. Ambassador [[Llewellyn Thompson]] already in Moscow for nuclear arms reduction talks.<ref name="nytimes 07-01-68"/> The [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]], which had been negotiated just weeks earlier, had been signed by U.S. President [[Lyndon Johnson]] on that day. Ambassador Thompson informed Soviet Premier [[Alexei Kosygin]] that the airspace violation was unintentional,<ref name="time 07-12-68"/> but Kosygin explained that circumstances prevented him from doing as he wished and that the incident was under investigation.

The following day Thompson was given a short protest note by the Soviets.<ref name="time 07-12-68"/>  A partially declassified CIA document indicated that Deputy Minister Kuznetsov added the personal comment that the USSR "did not wish to do anything to worsen our relations"<ref>[http://www.foia.cia.gov/best-of-crest/CIA-RDP79T00975A011500110002-0.pdf Central Intelligence Bulletin, 2 July 1968] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531114832/http://www.foia.cia.gov/best-of-crest/CIA-RDP79T00975A011500110002-0.pdf |date=31 May 2012 }}, Central Intelligence Agency.</ref> but expressed it was most important to have a quick reply. The U.S. issued a short note of apology, and Tosolini also apologized, allowing the plane to leave. Upon landing at [[Misawa Air Base]] in northern Japan about an hour later, Tosolini retracted his apology, insisting the plane had not strayed into Soviet territory.<ref name="ny times 07-03-68">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/07/04/archives/pilot-of-freed-jet-denies-he-flew-in-soviet-airspace.html?sq=jet%2520with%2520214%2520servicemen&scp=3&st=cse|title=Pilot of Freed Jet Denies He Flew in Soviet Airspace|last=Trumbull|first=Robert|date=July 3, 1968|publisher=New York Times<!--accessed=January 4, 2010-->}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The incident was a diplomatic embarrassment for all parties, playing into the hands of the Soviet Union by distracting the U.S. from arms talks.  The [[Sino-Soviet split]] reached a peak at this time, with [[China]] viewing the USSR's release of the plane as aiding Americans in the fight against [[North Vietnam]], one of China's allies.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

In December 1968, Seaboard was forced to pay a $5,000 civil penalty to the [[Federal Aviation Administration|FAA]], as its onboard [[Doppler radar]] was not properly certified.<ref>''Seaboard fined in airspace error'', New York Times, December 10, 1968, p. 94</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Soviet Union|1960s}}
*[[Hainan Island incident]]
*[[Korean Air Lines Flight 902]]
*[[Korean Air Lines Flight 007]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{cite web|url=http://www.dc-8jet.com/sea-dc8-fleet-info.htm|title=Seaboard World Airlines DC-8 Fleet Information}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Seaboard-World-Airlines/McDonnell-Douglas-DC-8-63CF/1587158/L/&sid=e2433263f1adc0ba24586b24765600a2|title=Photo of a similar DC-8 63CF}}
*{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F11FA38541B7B93C0A9178CD85F4C8685F9&scp=2&sq=jet%20with%20214%20servicemen&st=cse|title=US Bids Moscow: Return Troop Jet|date=July 2, 1968|work=New York Times <!--accessed=January 4, 2010-->}}
*{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/07/02/archives/two-steps-forward-one-back.html?sq=jet%2520with%2520214%2520servicemen&scp=6&st=cse|title=Two Steps Forward, One Step Back|date=July 2, 1968|publisher=New York Times<!--accessed=January 4, 2010-->}}
* [http://www.seaboardairlines.org/misc/kuriles.htm A first-hand account, written by a Seaboard pilot who was on the flight]
*{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QT8EAAAAMBAJ&q=Kurile+Islands+1968&pg=PA32|title= A stewardess' record of Soviet MiGs snaring a U.S. transport|work=Newsfronts|publisher=Life Magazine|pages=32–32A|date=July 19, 1968}}
*{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/07/07/archives/commercial-jets-help-war-effort-fly-military-personnel-and-supplies.html?sq=comercial%2520jets%2520%2520help%2520with%2520war%2520effort&scp=1&st=cse|title=Commercial Jets Help With War Effort|last=Hudson|first=Edward|date=July 7, 1968|work=New York Times <!--accessed=January 4, 2010-->}}
* [http://www.airforce.ru/awm/hotsky/hotsky2.htm Мир Авиации №1(11)'96] {{in lang|ru}}

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1960s}}
{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}
{{coord missing|Russia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A}}
[[Category:1968 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-8]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968]]
[[Category:20th-century aviation accidents and incidents in Russia]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Seaboard World Airlines accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:Violations of Soviet airspace]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]
[[Category:July 1968 in Asia]]