News In Brief

Official with KAL plane link to be chief Soviet air marshal

The Soviet government named Alexander Koldunov as chief marshal of aviation Thursday, ending speculation that he was in disfavor because of his role in the shooting down of the Korean Air Lines jetliner last year. Mr. Koldunov was in the third tier of the chain of command assumed to be responsible for the incident, in which 269 people were killed.

The title of chief marshal makes Koldunov equal with Pavel Kutakhov, commander in chief of air forces.