From: bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: AF News Svc 12/17/92
Date: 18 Dec 92 21:29:13 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC


From CMSgt Mike Bergman <bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil>


952.  C-130 attack report
by TSgt. David P. Masko
Air Force News Service
     WASHINGTON -- Communications difficulties and other problems involving
flight clearance are some of the reasons why an unarmed C-130 was attacked
April 24 when flying off the coast of Peru.
     The government of Peru immediately regretted the incident and expressed
its condolences to the family of the missing crew member, the Pentagon said
Dec. 14.
     In that incident, one of the plane's 14 crewmen was killed when he was
blown through an observation window after the C-130 cargo aircraft was shot at
by two Soviet-built SU-22 fighters assigned to the Peruvian air force.  The
body of the airman was never recovered and, after a U.S. - Peruvian search, he
was declared dead.
     In addition, four other Air Force crew members were injured by shrapnel.
After the attack, the plane managed to land safely at the Peruvian El Pato air
base.
     The C-130 was flying a counterdrug operation in international airspace,
about 60 miles off the coast of Peru, when the incident occurred.
     At the time of the incident, the Air Force suspended all C-130 missions
in Peru, and ordered all of its C-130s in the region to have American flags
painted on their vertical stabilizer.
     Air Combat Command C-5 and C-141 cargo aircraft already have American
flags painted on their tails for U.S. identification purposes.
     Another Air Force plane was threatened by Peru for invading its airspace
June 8, but escaped incident after altering its flight plan.  The trouble
occurred when a KC-135 tanker, on a routine flight from Panama to Argentina,
was 100 nautical miles off Peru's coast when Peruvian officials radioed orders
to leave its air space, the Pentagon said in June.
     A U.S. Southern Command investigation was conducted to determine the
causes and problems leading up to the April incident, and a cooperative review
was completed by the United States and Peru to ensure that a similar incident
does not recur, the Pentagon said.
     The investigations into the C-130 incident show that several factors
contributed in some degree to the incident, including:
     -- Overflight clearance.  The Air Force pilots and other U.S. authorities
understood they had authorization of the government of Peru for the Air Force
C-130 counterdrug operations.  The Peruvian authorities said during the
cooperative review that, although a flight was initially approved by Peruvian
authorities two days before the flight, the clearance was nullified when U.S.
authorities did not confirm the flight within 24 hours of its scheduled time.
However, U.S. authorities understood that notice of the flight was required
not later than 24 hours before the flight, and such notice was given.
     -- Communications problems:  Although the U.S. crew attempted to
communicate on international distress frequencies, the C-130 and the Peruvian
fighters did not communicate by radio.  The C-130 crew members did not
transmit on Peruvian frequencies; they used international distress
frequencies.
     -- The sovereignty issue:  According to Peru, its territorial sovereignty
law recognizes 12 nautical miles.  However, the Pentagon said aircraft
operating in international airspace are not subject to jurisdiction or control
of the coastal state.
     -- Language difficulties:  Following the first attempt to intercept and
thereafter, U.S. authorities contacted the jointly manned radar sites in Peru
in an attempt to request that Peruvian authorities terminate the intercept.
But because of the absence of fully bilingual personnel on duty at the time,
from either side, U.S. and Peruvian attempts were not effective.
     The United States and Peruvian cooperative review resulted in
recommendations for revising operating and coordinating procedures to assure
the safety of future joint counterdrug air operations.
     In addition, the Pentagon said the incident is still under U.S. review to
determine if any further action is necessary.

--
     __________________________________________________________________
    |            Air Force News Agency (AFNEWS)                        | 
    |           Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, USA                       | 
    |               bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil                            |  
    |__________________________________________________________________|  
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds