Editing Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (section)

====Soviet pilot's recollection of shoot-down====
In a 1991 interview with ''[[Izvestia]]'', Major Gennadiy Osipovich, pilot of the Su-15 interceptor that shot the aircraft down, spoke about his recollections of the events leading up to the shoot-down. Contrary to official Soviet statements at the time, he recalled telling ground controllers that there were "blinking lights".<ref name="nytimes-Osipovich" /> He continued, saying of the [[Boeing 747#747-200|747-230B]], "I saw two rows of windows and knew that this was a Boeing. I knew this was a civilian plane. But for me this meant nothing. It is easy to turn a civilian type of plane into one for military use."<ref name="nytimes-Osipovich" /> Osipovich stated, "I did not tell the ground that it was a Boeing-type plane; they did not ask me."<ref name="Illesh-Eng" /><ref name="nytimes-Osipovich">Gordon, ''Ex-Soviet Pilot Still Insists KAL&nbsp;007 Was Spying''</ref>

[[File:Sukhoi SU-15TM 2008 G2.jpg|thumb|right|[[K-8 (missile)|K-8 missile]] (the type fired at KAL 007) mounted on the wing of a [[Sukhoi Su-15]]]]
Commenting on the moment that KAL&nbsp;007 slowed as it ascended from [[flight level]] 330 to flight level 350, and then on his maneuvering for a missile launch, Osipovich said:

{{blockquote|They [KAL&nbsp;007] quickly lowered their speed. They were flying at {{convert|400|km/h|0|abbr=on}}. My speed was more than 400. I was simply unable to fly slower. In my opinion, the intruder's intentions were plain. If I did not want to go into a stall, I would be forced to overshoot them. That's exactly what happened. We had already flown over the island [Sakhalin]. It is narrow at that point, the target was about to get away... Then the ground [controller] gave the command: "Destroy the target...!" That was easy to say. But how? With shells? I had already expended 243 rounds. Ram it? I had always thought of that as poor taste. [[Aerial ramming|Ramming]] is the last resort. Just in case, I had already completed my turn and was coming down on top of him. Then, I had an idea. I dropped below him about {{convert|2,000|m|spell=in}}... afterburners. Switched on the missiles and brought the nose up sharply. Success! I have a lock on.

We shot down the plane legally&nbsp;... Later we began to lie about small details: the plane was supposedly flying without running lights or strobe lights, that tracer bullets were fired, or that I had radio contact with them on the emergency frequency of [[Aircraft emergency frequency|121.5 megahertz]].<ref name="Daniloff">''Izvestia'' 1991 interview with Gennadi Osipovich, as quoted in: {{cite book |last=Daniloff |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Daniloff |title=Of Spies and Spokesmen: My Life as a Cold War Correspondent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5h4kuotImbgC&pg=PA305 |year=2008 |publisher=University of Missouri Press |isbn=978-0826266309 |page=301}}</ref>}}

Osipovich died on September 23, 2015, after a protracted illness.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 20, 2015 |script-title=ru:Тайна сбитого боинга: признание русского лётчика |trans-title=The mystery of the downed Boeing: the confession of a Russian pilot |url=https://newsomsk.ru/oreol/news/32973-tayna_sbitogo_boinga_priznanie_russkogo_lyotchika/ |access-date=February 23, 2020 |publisher=News Omsk |language=ru}}</ref>