1992 European Community Monitor Mission helicopter downing The 1992 European Community Monitor Mission helicopter downing was an incident that occurred on 7 January 1992 , during the Croatian War of Independence in which a European Community Monitor Mission ( ECMM ) helicopter carrying five European Community ( EC ) observers was downed by a Yugoslav Air Force Mikoyan - Gurevich MiG - 21 , in the air space above the village of Podrute , near Novi Marof , Croatia . Four Italian officers and a French officer were killed . Another ECMM helicopter flying in formation with the attacked helicopter crash - landed and its crew of four survived . Following the incident , condemned by the United Nations Security Council and the EC , Yugoslav authorities suspended the head of the air force , and the defence minister , General Veljko Kadijević resigned his post . The events followed the end of the first stage of the war in Croatia and closely preceded the country ' s international recognition . The MiG - 21 pilot , Lieutenant Emir Šišić , was tried " in absentia " together with his superiors by Croatian authorities and convicted to an extended prison sentence , but remained at large . Šišić was arrested in Hungary in 2001 and extradited to Italy , where he was tried , convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison . In 2006 , he was turned over to Serbia for the remainder of the sentence , but released in 2008 . Two other Yugoslav officers were tried " in absentia " in Italy and convicted in 2013 , while Serbia was ordered to pay damage to families of the killed . The observers were posthumously decorated by Italy and France respectively . Background . In 1990 , following the electoral defeat of the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia , ethnic tensions worsened . The Yugoslav People ' s Army ( " Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija " – JNA ) confiscated Croatia ' s Territorial Defence ( " Teritorijalna obrana " - TO ) weapons to minimize resistance . On 17 August , the tensions escalated into an open revolt by Croatian Serbs , centred on the predominantly Serb - populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin , parts of the Lika , Kordun , Banovina and eastern Croatia . Following the Pakrac clash between Serb insurgents and Croatian special police in March 1991 , the conflict had escalated into the Croatian War of Independence . The JNA stepped in , increasingly supporting the Croatian Serb insurgents . In early April , the leaders of the Croatian Serb revolt declared their intention to integrate the area under their control , known as SAO Krajina , with Serbia . In May , the Croatian government responded by forming the Croatian National Guard ( " Zbor narodne garde " - ZNG ) , but its development was hampered by a United Nations ( UN ) arms embargo introduced in September . The observer mission set out by the Brioni Agreement materialised as the European Community Monitor Mission ( ECMM ) tasked with monitoring of disengagement of belligerents in the Ten - Day War in neighbouring Slovenia , and ultimately withdrawal of the JNA from Slovenia . On 16 August , an ECMM helicopter was hit by Croatian Serb gunfire in the western Slavonia injuring one of the pilots . The ECMM scope of work was formally expanded to Croatia on 1 September . On 8 October , Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia , and a month later the ZNG was renamed the Croatian Army ( " Hrvatska vojska " - HV ) . Late 1991 saw the fiercest fighting of the war , as the 1991 Yugoslav campaign in Croatia culminated in the Siege of Dubrovnik , and the Battle of Vukovar . In November , Croatia , Serbia and the JNA agreed upon the Vance plan entailing a ceasefire , protection of civilians in specific areas designated as United Nations Protected Areas and United Nations ( UN ) peacekeepers in Croatia . The ceasefire came into effect on 3 January 1992 . In December 1991 , the European Community announced its decision to grant a diplomatic recognition to Croatia on 15 January 1992 . Incident . On 7 January 1992 , a pair of Italian Army Augusta - Bell AB - 206 L LongRanger helicopters operated by the ECMM observers entered Croatian air space flying from Hungary . The helicopters were white - painted and unarmed . They were flying from Yugoslav capital of Belgrade to Zagreb via Kaposvár , Hungary . Authorities in Belgrade claim the helicopters were authorised to fly to Hungary , but that the pilots were warned they were not allowed to fly to Zagreb because no flights in Croatian airspace were permitted . The European Community ( EC ) dismissed those claims , saying that the flight was approved in advance by Yugoslav air controllers . The approval was forwarded to the Yugoslav Air Force operations centre , but the order was never forwarded to the 5th Aviation Corps in Bihać , Bosnia and Herzegovina . After the two helicopters were spotted by a Yugoslav Air Force tracking radar near Bihać , a pair of Mikoyan - Gurevich MiG - 21 s , which were on standby at the Željava Air Base near Bihać , were ordered to take off and intercept the aircraft . The MiG - 21s , assigned to the 125th Squadron of the 117th Fighter Aviation Regiment , were piloted by Lieutenant Emir Šišić and Captain Danijel Borović . However , Borović declared that his aircraft had a problem with its engine , and Šišić took off alone . Šišić was guided to the incoming helicopters at an altitude of and then ordered to make a full circle with his jet . As he turned around , he spotted them flying below his plane , at an altitude of . Šišić requested instructions and was told to shoot the helicopters down . The order was issued by the duty officer at the Željava Air Base , Lieutenant Colonel Dobrivoje Opačić . Šišić dove after the helicopters , firing aircraft gun in front of the helicopters , but his aircraft was not armed with tracer ammunition and the helicopter pilots were not able to observe that they were fired upon . Flying at a speed of , he switched to missiles and immediately received a signal that the missile seekers have acquired the target . Šišić fired two infrared homing R - 60 missiles . The missile fired from the starboard wing flew between the two helicopters , while the one fired from the port side wing struck the engine of the leading helicopter . The helicopter was shot down near the village of Podrute , located in the area administrated as a part of the city of Novi Marof , north of Zagreb . The second helicopter had to crash - land to evade the attack . Aftermath . Five ECMM observers were killed in the attack , including four Italians and one French . They were Lieutenant Colonel Enzo Venturini , piloting the helicopter , Staff Sergeant Marco Matta , co - pilot , Sergeant Major Fiorenzo Ramacci , Sergeant Major Silvano Natale , and Ship - of - the - line Lieutenant Jean - Loup Eychenne . The Italian officers were drawn from the 5th Army Aviation Regiment Rigel . Occupants of the second helicopter , a diplomat and three Italian ECMM observers , were not harmed . The crash site was toured by the police , ECMM staff and journalists , and EC representatives visited Belgrade to receive a report on the incident from Yugoslav authorities . The action of the Yugoslav Air Force was condemned by the Conference on Security and Co - operation in Europe , the United Nations Security Council , and the EC Council of Ministers . Italian ambassador to Yugoslavia was recalled to Rome for consultations . Italy cancelled an air traffic agreement with Yugoslavia , causing the Jat Airways to cancel Belgrade – Rome flights . The ECMM operations were suspended for several days . Yugoslav Ministry of Defence announced that it initiated criminal proceedings against an officer , with four other officers facing military disciplinary action . Commander of the Yugoslav Air Force , Colonel General Zvonko Jurjević was suspended , and the federal defence minister , General Veljko Kadijević resigned his post . Šišić was court - martial led in Belgrade in 1992 and acquitted based on claims he shot at a ZNG helicopter illegally escorting the two ECMM helicopters . In a 2008 interview , Šišić claimed the ECMM helicopter crashed after being hit by the fireball caused by the exploding third helicopter . His account is contradicted by crash scene eyewitnesses , as well as Željava Air Base radar data both indicating two aircraft were flying to Zagreb . Šišić and Opačić were tried " in absentia " in Croatia and both were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison . Borović , who defected to Croatia a month after the attack , testified against Šišić . Šišić was arrested by Hungarian police at the Horgoš – Röszke border crossing on 9 May 2001 . His extradition was requested by both Croatia and Italy — where he was extradited to in June 2002 . He was tried in Italy and convicted to 15 years in prison for five counts of homicide and causing an aircraft disaster . In 2006 , he was transferred to Serbia for the remainder of the prison term . He was released by Serbian authorities in 2008 . In 2013 , Appeals Court in Rome tried Opačić , General Ljubomir Bajić , commander of the 5th Aviation Corps , and Colonel Božidar Martinović , head of the Yugoslav Air Defence operational centre in Belgrade " in absentia " for the attack . Opačić and Bajić were convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison each , and Martinović was acquitted . The court also ordered Serbia to pay compensation to families of those killed in the attack , in the provisional amount of 950 . 000 Euros . In the 2008 interview , Šišić said he regretted the deaths of the crew but felt no remorse . On 25 May 1993 , Italy posthumously decorated Italian ECMM observers killed in the attack with the Gold Medal of Military Valor , and the surviving three Italians aboard the second helicopter received the Silver Medal of Military Valor . Eychenne was posthumously promoted lieutenant commander effective 7 January 1992 , and attributed " Mort pour la France " on 14 April of the same year . He was decorated as the " Chevalier " of the Legion of Honour . The incident is commemorated annually in Podrute and the ceremonies held there are regularly attended by representatives of the Croatian government and military , representatives of Italian and French Armed Forces , as well as European Union , French and Italian diplomats .