Global InformationFinnair Flight 915 information
 The Finnair McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft involved in the incident. | |
| Incident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 23 December 1987 |
| Summary | Attempted missile attack, near miss |
| Site | Edgeøya, Svalbard, Norway |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30ER |
| Operator | Finnair |
| Registration | OH-LHC / N345HC |
| Flight origin | Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan |
| Destination | Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Vantaa, Finland |
| Occupants | 219 |
| Passengers | 201 |
| Crew | 18 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 219 |
Finnair Flight 915 (AY915) was a scheduled flight by Finnair from Tokyo, Japan, over the North Pole to Helsinki, Finland, on 23 December 1987. In 2014, Finnish media reported a claim by two of the flight's pilots that the Soviet Union had fired a missile at the aircraft, which exploded less than 30 seconds before impact. The allegations came out only in September 2014, when Helsingin Sanomat, the leading Finnish daily newspaper, published an extensive article on the matter.[1] The Finnish Broadcasting Corporation YLE reported on the article on the internet the same day.[2][3]
When the matter came out, it caused outrage in Finland among those politicians and civil servants, to whom it should have been reported at the time,[2] and it was widely publicised and commented upon in the Finnish media, amidst allegations of Finlandization.
The alleged incident has been compared to other similar incidents involving the Soviet Union, such as the Aero Kaleva in 1940, Aeroflot Flight 902 in 1962, Korean Air Lines Flight 902 in 1978, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983. Co-captain Kaukiainen said that the Finnair pilots decided to speak out on the matter after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 had been shot down in Ukraine on 17 July 2014.[4]
- ^ Huhtanen, Ann-Mari (7 September 2014). "'Perhana, se tulee suoraan kohti.' Jouluna 1987 Finnairin lento AY 915 oli matkalla Tokiosta Helsinkiin, kun Huippuvuorten kohdalla konetta lähestyi ohjus" ['Damn it, it's coming straight at us.' At Christmas, 1987, Finnair flight AY 915 was en route from Tokyo to Helsinki, when a missile approached it over Svalbard]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Sanoma: C 6–8. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
- ^ a b "HS: Finnair pilots report dramatic missile near-miss almost 30 years on". YLE news. 2014-09-07. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "Incident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 N345HC, 23 Dec 1987". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
- ^ "Finnairin lentäjät kertovat: "Se vain lähestyi ja lähestyi"" [Finnair pilots: "It kept coming closer and closer"]. Ruutu.fi (in Finnish). Nelonen Media. 2014-09-07. Retrieved 2014-09-23.