Banja Luka incident The Banja Luka incident on 28 February 1994 , was an incident in which six Republika Srpska Air Force J - 21 Jastreb single - seat light attack jets were engaged , and four of them shot down , by United States Air Force F - 16 s southwest of Banja Luka , Bosnia and Herzegovina . Bombing of Novi Travnik . As part of Operation Deny Flight , a NATO Airborne Early Warning aircraft ( NAEW ) flying over Hungarian territory , detected unidentified contacts south of Banja Luka at 6 : 35 a . m . Two NATO U . S . Air Force F - 16s , " " Black 03 " " and " " Black 04 " " , of the 526th Fighter Squadron " Black Knights " , 86th Fighter Wing based , at the time , at Ramstein AB Germany , were vectored to the area and intercepted six J - 21 Jastreb and two J - 22 Orao aircraft which were attacking the Bratstvo military factory at Novi Travnik . In accordance with the UN and NATO rules of engagement , orders to " " land or exit the no - fly zone or be engaged " " were issued twice , but both warnings were ignored . While warnings were issued , the violating aircraft dropped bombs over their target , which was left in flames . In such circumstances NATO has a " single key " , meaning that only one clearance was needed , so the Combined Air Operations Center was immediately able to clear the F - 16s to attack . Air engagement . The Bosnian Serb Jastrebs headed northwards , back to their base . At 6 : 45 a . m . , the NATO fighters engaged their opponents . Captain Robert G . Wright fired an AIM - 120 AMRAAM , downing the first Jastreb which was flying at 5 , 000 feet . The remaining Jastrebs dropped to a few hundred feet , flying at low level to use the mountainous terrain to hide from radar and make their escape back to Udbina . Wright pressed on , closing to within AIM - 9 Sidewinder range . He fired two of his heat - seeking Sidewinder missiles , and they were seen to hit the Serb aircraft . After he had expended all his missiles and low on fuel , Wright handed over the chase to his wingman , Capt . Scott O ' Grady , who had been flying top to cover his flight leader . O ' Grady dropped down to engage and fired an AIM - 9M , but it did not lock - on and missed . " Black flight " was now approaching " " bingo fuel " , " the point at which a plane will not have enough fuel to return , so they pulled off to refuel from a KC - 135 Stratotanker circling in orbit over the Adriatic . At the same time another pair of 526th Fighter Squadron F - 16Cs , " " Knight 25 " " and " " Knight 26 " " , had been vectored to the area by the AWACS . At 6 : 50 a . m . , " " Knight 25 " " managed to get in behind the remaining three Jastrebs . He launched a Sidewinder , downing another Serb J - 21 Jastreb . By now the Serbs were close to the international border and the F - 16s had to break off the pursuit because NATO was not empowered to engage aircraft outside Bosnian airspace . The remaining aircraft were able to land at Udbina Air Base in the Republic of Serbian Krajina in Croatia . The USAF credited three kills to Captain Robert Gordon " Wilbur " Wright , flying F - 16C - 40 # 89 - 2137 / RS , using an AIM - 120 AMRAAM and two AIM - 9 Sidewinder s ; and one kill using an AIM - 9 Sidewinder to Captain Stephen L . " Yogi " Allen flying F - 16C - 40 # 89 - 2009 / RS of the same unit . The Serbs acknowledged the loss of five aircraft in the incident ; the discrepancy probably stems from the fact that an additional aircraft crashed after being hit by a missile explosion while trying to escape in low - level flight . Bosnian Serb pilots . The Bosnian Serb pilots involved in the incident were :