After the Peru accident, a joint investigation by the United States and Peru reviewed the circumstances of the accident and made several conclusions. The investigation team was comprised of U.S. representatives from the Departments of State and Defense, as well as Peruvian officials from its Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense. According to U.S. officials, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe requested the restart of the ABD program to help combat drug trafficking. After initial discussions, the United States decided to assist Colombia in restarting a revised ABD program that would be managed by the Colombian Air Force and overseen by State/INL. In addition, U.S. officials said that Colombia had existing infrastructure that facilitated the program’s restart, such as air bases and a national air command center. Prior to the restart of Colombia’s ABD program, a committee of representatives from the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, as well as the Colombian government developed a Letter of Agreement outlining the program’s goal, safety requirements, operational procedures, and each country’s responsibilities. The Letter of Agreement, which was signed in April 2003, states that the program’s goal is to increase the Colombian government’s ability to stop aerial drug trafficking over Colombia. Colombia is required to provide personnel and interceptor aircraft, designate the areas where the program can operate in Colombia’s airspace, and manage the daily operations. The United States is primarily responsible for providing the program with surveillance aircraft, personnel, training, and funds to maintain and operate the equipment, while ensuring that the program is regularly reviewed. Finally, a U.S. Presidential determination was necessary to restart the program, and is required annually to allow U.S. employees and its agents to assist Colombia in the use of force against civilian aircraft reasonably suspected to be primarily engaged in illicit drug trafficking. Since 2002, the United States has provided $68.4 million and surveillance aircraft for the ABD program (see table 1) and plans to provide an additional $25.9 million in fiscal year 2006. State/INL provided $57.2 million to support ARINC operations, including the U.S. personnel involved in the program and maintenance of the surveillance aircraft. State’s Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) in the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá provided $11.2 million for training, aircraft operations, logistics support, and construction at ABD air bases. At no cost to State, the department also transferred five U.S.- owned Cessna Citation surveillance aircraft used in the prior ABD programs, which are equipped with tracking systems. Also, Defense gave Colombia two additional surveillance aircraft, which have yet to be used for surveillance. The fiscal year 2006 request for approximately $26 million for the program is planned to continue existing operations and construct additional infrastructure. U.S. and Colombian officials said they do not intend for Colombia to fully finance the program in the near future. In response to the findings of the Peru investigation and other determinations, the United States and Colombia developed new safeguards for the renewed ABD program which were implemented consistently in the interdiction missions we observed. The program also undergoes multiple evaluations to ensure that all elements of the Letter of Agreement are followed. The renewed ABD program has new safeguards in place, which were prompted by the review of the Peru accident. The investigation of the Peru incident found that crewmembers did not fully perform some procedures, neglected the safety of the mission, had limited foreign language skills, and were talking on a congested communication system. In response, safeguards were developed to reinforce and clarify procedures, bolster safety monitoring, enhance language skills of ABD personnel, and improve communication channels. Another factor of the accident—the civilian pilot’s unawareness of the ABD program’s procedures—was addressed by teaching civilian pilots about the program. In the Letter of Agreement for the renewed program, U.S. and Colombian officials require ABD personnel to follow specific procedures summarized in a safety checklist to ensure safe operations and clarify the roles of the United States and Colombia (see app. I). According to the Peru investigative report, the aircrews involved in the accident did not fully execute the program’s procedures, particularly aircraft identification. Also, the documentation of ABD procedures had become less specific over time. The procedural checklist for the renewed program lists the specific steps that must be taken to execute an ABD mission, including visually identifying the suspicious aircraft; calling to the aircraft over the radio; and, if necessary, requesting permission from the Commander of the Colombian Air Force to fire at the aircraft. In particular, the list provides the exact wording for crewmembers to use when confirming the completion of checklist steps to avoid confusion among the participants. While at the Colombian Air Force’s ABD command center in Bogotá, we observed ABD personnel following the checklist during the start of an ABD mission. While, at the time of the accident, the program did not have U.S. personnel dedicated to monitoring safety, three U.S. personnel are now responsible for safety and implementation of safeguards for each mission. The Peru investigation concluded that the interceptor crewmembers were focused on forcing aircraft to land and not on the overall safety of the mission. Under the renewed program, the three U.S. safety monitors are located at the Colombian Air Force’s command center in Bogotá; at JIATF-South in Key West, Florida; and onboard the surveillance aircraft. The safety monitor onboard the aircraft observes the completion of checklist procedures and alerts the U.S. monitors on the ground when each procedure is accomplished. If any of the three monitors objects to an action taken during the mission, the monitor immediately stops the mission. For example, if a monitor objects to the firing of warning shots because he is not confident that the suspicious aircraft is involved in drug trafficking, he will immediately pull all U.S. resources out of the mission, including the surveillance aircraft and U.S. personnel. However, if the problem is resolved, the mission can resume. As of June 2005, the U.S. monitors had objected to actions in ten missions, two of which were due to incorrect implementation of the checklist. The Letter of Agreement with Colombia requires all U.S. safety monitors to be fluent in Spanish and the Colombian crewmembers, besides the weapons controllers, to be proficient in English because language barriers among the aircrew members contributed to the Peru accident. The aircrews involved in the Peru accident had flown on previous operational missions together and had some foreign language skills; however, they were not proficient enough to communicate clearly during the high stress of an interception. For example, one of the crewmembers in the Peru incident obtained the suspicious aircraft’s tail number so that ground personnel could determine the owners of the aircraft. However, other participants in the mission did not understand the message, and never learned that the plane was a legitimate civilian aircraft. Under the renewed program, the U.S. safety monitors are native Spanish speakers or were formerly trained as linguists with the U.S. military. Annually, ARINC tests the U.S. monitors fluency in Spanish and the NAS tests the Colombians’ proficiency in English. Additionally, the renewed ABD program has incorporated improved communications systems and procedures to ensure the communications mishaps that contributed to the Peru accident do not reoccur. An ABD interception requires the coordination of many individuals, including ground personnel in the ABD command center in Bogotá and JIATF-South in Key West, Florida, and aircrews in the surveillance and interceptor aircraft. During the Peru accident, the aircrews were talking simultaneously over the same radio channels and were not able to hear each other clearly. For example, the crew of the suspicious aircraft called the closest air control tower when they saw the interceptor aircraft following them, but the control tower did not receive the call because it was too far away. Although the ABD aircrews were monitoring the tower’s radio frequency, they did not hear the call because other communication was occurring at the same time. For the new program, a satellite radio channel is dedicated to the U.S. monitors, and the Colombian crewmembers communicate on various radio channels. A satellite phone is also available if radio communication is impaired. The U.S. monitors must suspend the mission if communication among them is lost, which has happened three times. Although not a finding of the Peru investigation, the Letter of Agreement with Colombia recognizes that a community of civilian pilots unaware of the ABD program can threaten the safety of the program’s operations. Pilots who do not know how to respond to an ABD interception may put themselves and the ABD aircrews at undue risk. The pilot of the suspicious aircraft in Peru was unaware that he was being called over the radio by the ABD aircrew. The Letter of Agreement with Colombia requires the Colombian government to inform the public of the program’s operating procedures, which the government does through publicly posted notices and required training courses for pilots and air traffic controllers. The government also teaches the civilian pilots how to respond to an ABD interception, as well as the consequences of not complying with the Colombian Air Force’s commands. The program managers that we interviewed said that the program’s operations are reviewed and evaluated regularly by the program managers and cognizant U.S. agency officials. For example: The United States recertifies the program once a year, a process that serves as the basis for the President’s annual decision on whether to continue supporting the program. The program was first certified in May 2003 before it could restart and again in July 2004 by a team of representatives from the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and Transportation.