Multiple Mig Pilots, such as Victor Belenko, Munir Redfa, and No Kum-sok, defected to the West with their planes. Did Western pilots defect to the Eastern Bloc, and what motivated such defections?

by Serial-Killer-Whale
Erusian

No. No western pilot ever defected to the Eastern Bloc with an American military plane. Only three Americans ever defected to a Communist state by plane and all three defected in civilian aircraft. All three also defected to Cuba, interestingly enough. They all did so in a five year period (from 1962 to 1967) and claimed reasons of conscience. None have, as far as I'm aware, ever given an interview. The only one that stated an official reason for their defection was Major Richard Pearce, who was required to give a reason when he requested asylum in 1967. He stated that it was due to moral objections to the war in Vietnam.

The cases where there were frequent airplane defections from a "western" power were Chinese, Vietnamese, or Koreans defecting to their respective Communist governments. They did sometimes bring their military equipment with them. Those cases are frequent enough it's difficult to generalize: we're talking hundreds of cases. But suffice it to say that there was a difference between defecting to a foreign power and defecting to a native Communist movement.

From Staff Report to the Select Committee on Defection.