Kaleva (airplane)

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**Kaleva Shootdown**
Summary
Date	June 14, 1940
Type	Attacked by two Soviet bombers
Site	near Keri lighthouse, Gulf of Finland
Fatalities	9
Injuries	0
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Junkers Ju 52-3/mge
Operator	Aero Oy
Tail number	OH-ALL
Passengers	7
Crew	2
Survivors	0

Kaleva and its crew prior the the incident.

Junkers Ju 52-3/mge "Kaleva" OH-ALL was Aero Oy's small transport plane shot down by two Soviet Ilyushin DB-3 bombers on June 14, 1940, while en route from Tallinn to Helsinki.^[1] A few minutes after taking off in Tallinn, Kaleva was joined at close range by the Soviet bombers. The bombers opened fire with their machine guns and badly damaged Kaleva, making it crash on its left side into the water a few kilometers northeast of Keri lighthouse. All nine passengers and crew members on board were killed.

Estonian fishermen had witnessed the attack and crash of the plane. Shortly after the crash a Soviet submarine surfaced and inspected the fishing boats. After confiscating items taken from the wreck by the fishermen, the Soviets picked up diplomatic mail from the wreck and the sea. The future top-scoring Finnish pilot Ilmari Juutilainen was sent to inspect the crash site. After the Soviets spotted the Finnish airplane, the submarine hid its flag.

At the time of the incident Finland was not at war with the Soviet Union. The probable reason for the attack was the annexation of the Baltic Republics. The Soviet Union was carrying out a blockade, preventing diplomatic posts being sent abroad. The passengers included two German businessmen, two French embassy couriers, one Swede, one American courier and an Estonian woman. The French couriers had over 120 kilograms of diplomatic posts in the plane. The American courier was reportedly transporting the U.S. military codes to safety from Estonia. ^[2]

The plane was piloted by Captain Bo von Willebrand, and Tauno Launis was the wireless operator.

The Government of Finland did not send any complaints or questions to the Soviets, and the true reason for the crash was hidden from the public. This was due to the heavy pressure put upon Finland during the Interim Peace by the Soviets.