KAL 007, downed by the Soviets in 1983, indeed had tech-stopped in Anchorage. I think the flight originated in New York. IIRC, a computer glitch caused the on-board navigation computers to allow the aircraft to stray too close to the Kamchatka Peninsula, restricted airspace in those days, without the pilots' knowledge (the computer was telling them they were fine, off the coast in permitted airspace). The Soviets mistook the KAL aircraft for an American spy plane that had been operating in the area. Nowadays, Korean Air and plenty of others fly right into Siberia and China--on authorized pathways. The aircraft operating transpac routes have longer range now than they did in 1983, of course, and the ability to overfly formerly restricted airspace in Siberia and China surely makes it possible for many routes that once required tech-stops in Anchorage to go nonstop. East Coast USA to Tokyo and Seoul come to mind. Flying ATL-ICN on a KE 747 recently over some absolutely spectacular territory in extreme Northeast Siberia and Kamchatka definitely brought to mind the tragic fate of KAL 007 nearly 25 years ago. As we approached Korea over mainland China, we followed a very unusual route looping behind North Korea and approaching Incheon from the west, surely because North Korea forbids overflights. The more things change....

A number of cargo flights stop at Anchorage because they are flying routes that still cannot go nonstop. For example, I tracked a package on FedEx that routed from Clark Freeport in the Philippines to Anchorage to Memphis. For them, I guess it's still convenient to tech-stop at ANC.