The International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) had only one experience of investigation of an air disaster prior to the KAL 007 shootdown . This was the incident of February 21 , 1973 , when Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was shot down by Israeli F-4 jets over the Sinai Peninsula . ICAO convention required the state in whose territory the accident had taken place ( the Soviet Union ) to conduct an investigation together with the country of registration ( South Korea ) , the country whose air traffic control the aircraft was flying under ( Japan ) , as well as the country of the aircraft 's manufacturer ( USA )
Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114
Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114
Korean Air Lines Flight 007