Part 5/9:
At approximately 650 kilometers from its intended route, Flight 007 entered Soviet airspace without any attempts to communicate its presence. Soviet commanders, on high alert due to recent incursions by American reconnaissance flights, scrambled fighters to intercept and assess the situation regarding this unidentified aircraft.
In the cockpit, the crew, engaged in idle conversation, failed to note critical changes in wind patterns and other anomalies in their flight data. The crew’s belief in their situation further solidified by the phenomenon of confirmation bias—wherein conflicting information is minimized, fueling their false sense of security.