The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan
Downing of a U.S. Navy aircraft by North Korean over the Sea of Japan
🗓️ 15 April 1969
On 15 April 1969, a United States Navy Lockheed EC-121M Warning Star of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) on a reconnaissance mission was shot down by a North Korean MiG-21 aircraft over the Sea of Japan. The plane crashed 90 nautical miles (167 km) off the North Korean coast and all 31 Americans on board were killed, which constitutes the largest single loss of U.S. aircrew during the Cold War era.
