Conference turris::scandia

159.0. "Soviet fighter shot down Swedish aircraft in 1952" by TLE::SAVAGE () Mon Nov 25 1991 15:53

    From: [email protected]
    Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.news.hot.east_europe,
	clari.news.hot.ussr,clari.news.military,clari.news.europe,
	clari.news.fighting
    Subject: Soviets finally admit shooting down Swedish military plane in 1952
    Date: 18 Nov 91 22:07:40 GMT
 
 
	MOSCOW (UPI) -- The Soviet Defense Ministry acknowledged Monday that
its forces shot down a Swedish military plane that disappeared over the
Baltic Sea almost 40 years ago and said it regretted what happened.
	Defense officials released only scant details through the Soviet news
agency Tass and said they were responding to a Swedish request for
information about the 1952 incident in which a DC-3 Swedish military
aircraft vanished between Sweden and the Soviet Union.
	No casualties figures were released, but Tass said, "The U.S.S.R.
Defense Ministry regrets what happened and expresses its sincere
condolences to the relatives of the victims."
	A Soviet fighter plane shot down the Swedish aircraft over the Baltic
Sea about 70 miles northwest of Ventspils, a coastal city in Latvia, the
report said.
	That would mean the downed aircraft fell into the sea roughly half
way between the Swedish capital of Stockholm and Ventspils.
	No explanation for the downing was offered by Defense Ministry
officials other than saying the Baltic region was tense and the Cold War
was on.
	Douglas Aircraft made the twin-engine propeller DC-3 in both a cargo
and passenger configuration, which could carry about 30 passengers, but
there was no indication which model was involved. The sturdy planes were
considered a workhorse in World War II and the years after.