Staff on aircraft near Japan report seeing missile break up and fall into sea on 29 November

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The crew of a Cathay Pacific flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong reported seeing a North Korean ballistic missile break up and fall out of the sky last week, the airline has said, highlighting an unforeseen danger of Pyongyang’s weapons tests.

Flight trackers put the plane close to Japan around the time of Pyongyang’s Hwasong-15 missile test on 29 November. The missile fell into the Sea of Japan.

Q&A What do we know about the Hwasong-15 missile? Show Hide The Hwasong-15 missile fired on 29 November flew on a steep trajectory for 50 minutes, reaching an altitude of 2,800 miles (4,500 km) and distance of 620 miles, according to North Korea. The US-based Union of Concerned Scientists said that if the numbers were correct, then the missile would have a range of 8,080 miles on a standard trajectory. That figure suggests that all of the US could theoretically be within range. The missile appears to be an advanced version of the Hwasong-15 ICBM tested in July by North Korea, which claims this version makes it a "complete" nuclear state. Pyongyang has not, however, proved it has the capability to marry a miniaturised nuclear warhead with a long-range missile and send it at a trajectory that would hit US cities. It also remains unclear whether the North Koreans have perfected a re-entry vehicle capable of protecting a nuclear warhead during its descent. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/X90173

Pyongyang claimed its latest intercontinental ballistic missile was capable of striking anywhere in the US. North Korea has not yet proved it can mount a miniaturised nuclear warhead on its missiles, but the latest test is likely to strengthen its negotiating power with Washington.

“The flight crew of CX893 reported a sighting of what is suspected to be the re-entry of the recent DPRK test missile,” an airline spokesman said, referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “Though the flight was far from the event location, the crew advised Japan [air traffic control] according to procedures.”

The flight was not affected and the company had no plans to change existing routes, the airline said.

Mark Hoey, Cathay Pacific’s general manager of operations, recounted the message from the crew of the passenger plane to ground staff.

“Be advised, we witnessed the DPRK missile blow up and fall apart near our current location,” the pilots said, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.

A Cathay Pacific cargo plane – CX096 – may have been even closer to the missile, at a lateral distance of a few hundred metres, Hoey added, according to the report.

That flight was bound for Alaska and was also over Japan at the time of the missile test.