Korean Air Flight 085

Korean Air

Industry	Airline
Headquarters	Seoul , South Korea
Products	Air transportation services

Korean Air Flight 085 Hijacking False Alarm on September 11, 2001

On September 11, 2001, Korean Air Flight 085, which departed from Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea, was en route to Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska. During the flight, the crew was informed about the unfolding events of the September 11 attacks. The pilot’s ACARS response contained the code "HJK," which was interpreted as a distress signal suggesting a possible hijacking. Although there was some confusion about instructions, the pilot followed orders to set the transponder to squawk code 7500, the international signal for hijacking.

Authorities directed Flight 085 to divert to Whitehorse International Airport located in Yukon, Canada. Both U.S. officials and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien authorized that the aircraft could be shot down if it failed to comply with instructions. The Boeing 747-400 aircraft was escorted by U.S. F-15 fighter jets and safely landed in Whitehorse. Ultimately, the suspected hijacking proved to be a false alarm.

Incident

Following the September 11 attacks, authorities issued instructions for all international flights to return to their departure airports or, if fuel was insufficient, to land on Canadian soil. During communications with the Korean Air office regarding the day's situation, the pilot of Flight 085 included the code "HJK"—which signifies "hijacked"—within an airline message. The message was intercepted by Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated (ARINC), a company providing text messaging services, which detected the "HJK" code. Concerned that the South Korean crew might be signaling a hijacking, ARINC alerted NORAD. In response, NORAD dispatched F-15 fighter jets from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage to intercept the Boeing 747, while Alaska Air Traffic Control (ATC) posed coded queries to the pilots.

ATC requested that the flight alter its transponder code to 7500—the internationally recognized hijack signal—anticipating that if no hijacking had occurred, the crew would respond accordingly. Instead, the pilots complied with the instruction without any clarifying communication, leading ATC to interpret this as confirmation of a hijacking. Fearing a potential attack on Alaskan targets, Governor Tony Knowles ordered evacuations of major hotels and government offices in Anchorage. In nearby Valdez, Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard directed oil tankers to move offshore. Lt. Gen. Norton Schwartz, overseeing NORAD’s scrambled jets shadowing Flight 085, later revealed he was prepared to authorize shooting down the aircraft to prevent an assault on Alaskan territory.

With NORAD warning the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center that they would engage the plane if it approached critical sites, controllers instructed Flight 085 to avoid populated areas and proceed out of U.S. airspace toward Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. NORAD immediately contacted Canadian officials to seek permission for potential engagement over Canadian airspace:

Approximately ninety minutes after Flight 085’s transponder was set to the 7500 hijack code, it safely touched down in Whitehorse. Prior to landing, Canadian authorities evacuated schools and large buildings in the vicinity. Upon arrival on the tarmac, armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers questioned the pilots and discovered that a mistranslation had caused the misunderstanding. The South Korean pilot explained that Air Traffic Control had instructed him to change the transponder code, a fact confirmed by ATC. Additionally, another Korean Air 747—a cargo aircraft—was diverted to Whitehorse on that same day. This event occurred concurrently with Operation Yellow Ribbon, an initiative developed by Transport Canada to manage redirected civilian flights following the attacks.

September 11, 2001

• Flight 085 departs from Incheon International Airport located in Seoul, South Korea
• 8:46:40 a.m. (ET) – American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center
• 9:02:59 a.m. (ET) – United Airlines Flight 175 strikes the South Tower of the World Trade Center
• 9:37:46 a.m. (ET) – American Airlines Flight 77 impacts The Pentagon
• 9:58:59 a.m. (ET) – The South Tower collapses completely
• 10:03:14 a.m. (ET) – United Airlines Flight 93, believed to have targeted either the United States Capitol or the White House, crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania
• 10:10 a.m. (ET) – The section of The Pentagon wall struck by American Airlines Flight 77 gives way
• 10:28:23 a.m. (ET) – The North Tower collapses entirely
• 11:08 a.m. (ET) – Pilots of Flight 085 transmit "HJK," a hijack code, in an airline communication
• 12:00 p.m. (ET) – ARINC officials inform NORAD regarding the hijack code transmission
• 1:00 p.m. (ET) – Fighter jets are deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base to escort Flight 085
• 1:24 p.m. (ET) – At air traffic control’s request, the Korean flight crew switches their transponder to the universal hijack code, 7500
• Between 1 and 2:45 p.m. (ET) – Following warnings of a potential hijacked aircraft threat in Alaska, Governor Tony Knowles orders evacuation of possible target areas
• 2:54 p.m. (ET) – Flight 085 safely touches down in Whitehorse, where armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers confirm no hijacking took place

See also

• Delta Air Lines Flight 1989