I read a book on the shoot down of KAL007 not that long ago, and acording to the book, based on many of the findings of the numerous investigations, the aircraft was hit by two missiles, and survived for up to 15 min. The crew were able to transmit comunications, while they were attempting to get the crippled 747 on the ground. There is much speculation as to if the a/c had broken up before it hit the ground.