Originally published in Jetstream Magazine by Sanghyun Kim.

The hum of engines echoed through Baghdad’s Saddam International Airport as families waved goodbye under the harsh fluorescent lights. Among the 99 passengers boarding Korean Air Flight 858 that morning in 1987, few could imagine their journey would end as one of aviation’s darkest mysteries.

November 29, 1987, started as any other travel day for passengers at Saddam International Airport (now Baghdad International Airport) in Baghdad, Iraq. At the gate, 99 passengers were boarding Korean Air Flight 858, a journey bound for Seoul, South Korea, with scheduled stops in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Bangkok, Thailand. 

Of the 99 passengers and 20 crew on this 16-year-old Boeing 707, most were Koreans returning home from work overseas, including 55 employees of the Hyundai construction and engineering company. Other notable passengers included Seoul’s consul general in Baghdad and his wife, two Japanese nationals who were father and daughter, an Indian national, and a Lebanese national.

After flying from Baghdad to Abu Dhabi without any issues, nine crew members and six passengers disembarked. After 11 additional passengers boarded, the flight departed on its second leg to Bangkok. There were now 104 passengers and 11 crew members on board.

The Airplane with a Past

This particular airframe, registered HL7406, had an elaborate history in Korea. Between 1980 and 1982, the aircraft was used as the first official presidential aircraft in South Korea. Its brief presidential service ended when the government transitioned to newer aircraft acquired by Korean Air. HL7406 was then repainted to Korean Air’s new light blue livery featuring the symbolic 'Taeguk' on the tail, along with a special decal promoting the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

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