Enter an improbable accident waiting to happen. Rust, 19, was determined to prove that the empire really wasn’t all that evil and that Gorbachev was earnest in his desire to end the Cold War. His plan was simple: Violate the most heavily defended airspace in the world, get to Moscow in one piece, and show the world the softer side of the Soviets.

[snip]

Within minutes Rust was picked up by a radar station in Skrunda, Latvia (then part of the Soviet Union). Missile units were activated. Ground units were put on high alert. It wasn’t long before a Soviet fighter jet was in pursuit. Rust could see his fellow aviator, but said later he wasn’t given any instructions by him. Turns out the MiG could only communicate on military frequencies that the Cesna couldn’t receive. Eventually, the MiG just broke off and disappeared.

[snip]

At any moment Rust could have been fired upon, or at least forced to land. But the KAL incident had made the Soviet military gun-shy. Only the most senior commanders now had the authority to issue shoot-down orders and, on this day, they were all at a meeting in East Berlin.