Question: In which realm was this pilot's plane shot down whose flight had been approved by Thomas S. Gates Jr.?

Context paragraphs:
United Airlines Flight 696: United Airlines Flight 696 was a flight from San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, to Seattle, Washington, with 75 people in board.  After takeoff from San Francisco, Clay Thomas hijacked the Boeing 727, demanding the plane land in Oakland, California, and fuel up for a flight to Cuba.  The crew negotiated the release of all the passengers and cabin crew while on the ground in Oakland waiting for fuel.  Panicked by the sight of police vehicles, Thomas cut the fueling short and demanded an immediate departure to Cuba.  Once the plane was airborne, the pilot explained that the aircraft still did not have enough fuel to reach Cuba, and Thomas agreed to land in Denver, Colorado, for more fuel.  About 90 minutes after landing, the three members of the cockpit crew all jumped to safety from the open cockpit windows, all suffering injuries in the 18-foot (5.5-meter) jump.  Within five minutes of the escape and without hostages, Thomas meekly surrendered to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Thomas is currently incarcerated in a mental Institution in Colorado.

Francis Gary Powers: Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) – often referred to as simply Gary Powers – was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident.

Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320: Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320, carrying passengers from Newark to Boston was hijacked around 7:30 P.M. on March 17, 1970 by John J. Divivo who was armed with a .38 caliber revolver.  Captain Robert Wilbur Jr., 35, a former Air Force pilot who had only been promoted to captain six months prior, was shot in his arm by the suicidal hijacker.  Despite his wounds, he flew his aircraft safely to a landing while talking to the tower, telling them his copilot was shot (but not himself) and needed an ambulance.  His copilot, First Officer James Hartley, 30, was shot without warning by Divivo and collapsed.  Despite being mortally wounded Hartley recovered sufficiently to rip the gun from Divivo's hand, and shoot the would-be hijacker three times before lapsing into unconsciousness, and eventually death.  Although wounded and slumped between the seats, Divivo arose and began clawing at Captain Wilbur, attempting to force a crash.  Wilbur hit Divivo over the head with the gun he had retrieved from the center console.  The pilot was able to land the plane safely at Logan International Airport, and the hijacker was arrested immediately.  On November 1, 1970, DiVivo hanged himself while awaiting trial at Charles Street Jail.

VMF-511: Marine Fighting Squadron 511 (VMF-511) was a fighter squadron of the Marine Corps and Marine Forces Reserve during World War II and the Cold War which flew aircraft types such as the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair, and the F-8 Crusader.  They were originally activated during World War II and fought during the Battle of Okinawa and the Battle of Balikpapan (1945).  They specialized in close air support and during the course of the war were credited with only one plane shot down.

The Flight Before Christmas (2015 film): The Flight Before Christmas is a 2015 American Christmas television film directed by Peter Sullivan.  It aired on Lifetime on December 5, 2015.  The film stars Mayim Bialik and Ryan McPartlin as two people whose flight home for Christmas is diverted, leaving them to spend the holidays together.

Flight plan: Flight plans are documents filed by a pilot or flight dispatcher with the local Civil Aviation Authority (e.g. the FAA in the United States) prior to departure which indicate the plane's planned route or flight path.  Flight plan format is specified in ICAO Doc 4444.  They generally include basic information such as departure and arrival points, estimated time en route, alternate airports in case of bad weather, type of flight (whether instrument flight rules [IFR] or visual flight rules [VFR]), the pilot's information, number of people on board and information about the aircraft itself.  In most countries, flight plans are required for flights under IFR, but may be optional for flying VFR unless crossing international borders.  Flight plans are highly recommended, especially when flying over inhospitable areas, such as water, as they provide a way of alerting rescuers if the flight is overdue.  In the United States and Canada, when an aircraft is crossing the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), either an IFR or a special type of VFR flight plan called a DVFR (Defense VFR) flight plan must be filed.  For IFR flights, flight plans are used by air traffic control to initiate tracking and routing services.  For VFR flights, their only purpose is to provide needed information should search and rescue operations be required, or for use by air traffic control when flying in a "Special Flight Rules Area".

Itigi: ""ITIGI" redirects here.  For the plane shot down in 1980, see Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870"

Thomas S. Gates Jr.: Thomas Sovereign Gates Jr. (April 10, 1906March 25, 1983) was United States Secretary of Defense from 1959 to 1961 under President Eisenhower.  He was promoted from deputy secretary of defense.  During his tenure, he established a task force to set nuclear target priorities.  He also authorized U-2 reconnaissance flights, including the flight of Francis Gary Powers.

Korean Air Lines Flight 902: On 20 April 1978, Soviet air defense shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (KAL 902) near Murmansk, Soviet Union, after the civilian aircraft violated Soviet airspace and failed to respond to Soviet ground control and interceptors.  Soviet Air Defence Forces initially identified it as part of the US air reconnaissance force, which carried out thousands of flights along Soviet borders annually at the time.  Captain Alexander Bosov, pilot of the Sukhoi Su-15 that brought down Flight 902, saw Asian logogram characters on the tail of the Korean aircraft, and reported this to the ground control.  Despite this, Vladimir Tsarkov, commander of the 21st Soviet Air Defence Corps, ordered Bosov to take down the plane, as the plane failed to respond to repeated orders to land, and was approaching the Soviet border with Finland.  The Su-15 opened fire, forcing the plane to descend, and killing two of the 109 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 902.  The plane made an emergency landing on the frozen Korpiyarvi lake (not to be confused with the Korpijärvi lake) near the Finnish border.

LeRoy W. Homer Jr. Foundation: The LeRoy W. Homer Jr.  Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in memory of First Officer LeRoy W. Homer Jr..  LeRoy Homer was the co-pilot of United Airlines Flight #93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.  The flight recordings revealed that Dahl and Homer survived the initial attack and were still alive after the hijackers took over the plane.  It is believed that Dahl and Homer took actions to interfere with the hijackers, including disengaging the autopilot just before the hijackers took over in order to prevent them from setting the plane's target coordinates for Washington, D.C., and switching the output of the pilots' microphones from the cabin address speakers to the radio transmitter so that Jarrah's attempts to communicate with the passengers would instead be heard by air traffic controllers.  After learning of the earlier crashes at the thumb|right|World Trade CenterMelodie and the Pentagon, the crew and passengers attempted to foil the hijacking and reclaim the aircraft.  Meanwhile, the hijackers were not able to disengage the autopilot.  Dahl continued to struggle in the cockpit, refusing to allow a hijacker to deactivate the autopilot so he could fly the plane manually.  The hijackers were heard to say "Inform them, and tell him to talk to the pilot; bring back the pilot", possibly referring toLaurel Homer (CVR transcripts).  However, the uprising of crew and passengers took place and during the attempt the plane crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania2002.  The crash killed everyone on board.  Before the plane went down, she says, he had regained consciousness and was part of the final attack that forced the plane to abort its intended target, which was somewhere in Washington, D.C., and crash.ref>]]

Supporting paragraphs: Thomas S. Gates Jr. Francis Gary Powers
Answer: Soviet Union airspace