NATION : Jury Finds Willful KAL Misconduct When Soviets Shot Down Airliner

WASHINGTON — A federal jury today found Korean Air Lines acted with willful misconduct when one of its planes flew off course six years ago and was shot down by a Soviet warplane, killing all 269 people aboard.

The jury of three men and three women ruled that the actions by KAL’s crew were one of the causes of the shooting down of Flight 007 by a Soviet fighter plane.

Today’s verdict permits the families of the dead passengers to file individual suits seeking damages in excess of a $75,000-per-passenger limit on compensation set under international treaty. After the ruling read in court by U.S. District Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, the jury began deliberating the question of whether the families are entitled to punitive damages as well and if so, in what amount.