Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A

1968 aviation incident

Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A was a military charter flight carrying 214 American troops bound for South Vietnam. On July 1, 1968, the plane was intercepted by Soviet jets after it unintentionally violated Soviet airspace. It was forced to land on one of the Soviet controlled Kuril Islands with all 238 Americans aboard being detained for two days. Because the plane was on its maiden flight, the crew also included a check pilot and a check engineer. Accounts differ as to whether the message was unintelligible to Flight 253A due to static No damage to the plane was reported by the captain as he shut down the engines at 8:42 am. but expressed it was most important to have a quick reply. The U. S. issued a short note of apology, and Tosolini also apologized, allowing the plane to leave. Upon landing at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan about an hour later, Tosolini retracted his apology, insisting the plane had not strayed into Soviet territory.

The incident was a diplomatic embarrassment for all parties, playing into the hands of the Soviet Union by distracting the U. S. from arms talks. The Sino Soviet split reached a peak at this time and with China viewing the USSR's release of the plane as aiding Americans in the fight against North Vietnam, one of China's allies. In December 1968, Seaboard was forced to pay a $5,000 civil penalty to the FAA, as its onboard Doppler radar was not properly certified. The aircraft continued to operate with Seaboard until 1970, when it was transferred to Icelandic Airways and re registered as TF FLB. In 1984, the aircraft was converted into a freighter and delivered to UPS airlines, re registered as N836UP. The aircraft operated with UPS until it was withdrawn from use in 2003 and was later scrapped.