"On June 12, 2005, a passenger Boeing 777, owned by Vietnam Airlines, was en route from Hanoi to Moscow, in line with a submitted application," Vladimir Mikhailov said. He said that due to a lack of coordination between Russian air traffic controllers, the jet was thought to have violated Russian airspace.
Mikhailov said the official investigation is over. "Such mistakes are impermissible in air traffic management," he said.
"They might lead to very serious consequences, like in 1983 with a South Korean Boeing," the commander said, apparently referring to a tragedy in September of that year, when a South Korean passenger jet bound from Anchorage, Alaska, to Seoul deviated from its route and was brought down by Soviet fighters over the Sea of Japan, killing all 269 people aboard.
Asked whether the Russian Air Force has learned the lesson of October 11, 2006, when a plane crashed into a New York skyscraper, the commander said the lesson of Sept. 11, 2001 has also been well learned.
"We have established strict control over all aircraft. The plane is only preparing to take off, and appropriate services already know what route it will be following," he said.
