Cathay Pacific crew 'saw North Korea missile'

An airplane crew flying over Japan saw North Korea's missile as it plunged back through the atmosphere last week, their airline said Monday, as South Korea and the US kicked off their largest ever joint air exercise.

Cathay Pacific Source: SBS

Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific released a statement saying the crew of flight CX893 spotted "what is suspected to be the re-entry" of the missile as they flew from San Francisco to the southern Chinese city.

In a separate message to staff, Cathay general manager Mark Hoey said the crew described seeing the missile "blow up and fall apart", the South China Morning Post reported.

While Cathay Pacific hasn’t taken any action against North Korean missiles, it is reported that Singapore Airlines changed a flight route between Asia and the U.S. earlier this year because of fears over North Korean missile launches.

The SBS Korean program has more.