News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page
NewsMine — war-on-terror — iraq — 2003-invasion — friendly-fire — Viewing Item |
Us hit royal air force { March 23 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-War-British-Plane.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-War-British-Plane.html
March 23, 2003
U.S. Missile May Have Downed British Plane
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:43 a.m. ET
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar (AP) -- A Royal Air Force aircraft was reported missing Sunday and British and U.S. officials said it may have been shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile.
Group Capt. Al Lockwood, a spokesman for British forces in the Persian Gulf, said the aircraft may have been shot down near the Kuwaiti border. Britain's Ministry of Defense said the crew was missing.
``One of our aircraft recovering from operations over Kuwait, evidence is beginning to come to light that suggests it was engaged by a U.S. Patriot missile,'' Lockwood said.
Asked whether ``engaged'' meant ``shot down,'' Lockwood said, ``Evidence is pointing in that direction.''
A U.S. official confirmed that a Patriot missile battery ``may have engaged'' the aircraft near the Kuwaiti border. The official said no other information was available.
Patriot missiles are designed to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles and low-flying cruise missiles, not planes. Lockwood indicated there would be an investigation.
``We wish to find out just as everybody else does, the U.S. as well, why this happened,'' Lockwood said. ``And we will be carrying out a joint investigation to determine the facts so that we can eliminate this problem forever.''
He said the Americans were ``just as concerned as we are that this has occurred.''
``You must remember is high-intensity conflict. This is war and it's not training,'' said Lockwood. ``We will continue to do our job and see it to its finish.''
In London, the defense ministry declined to say how many crew members were in the aircraft, or what type of aircraft was involved.
Britain has sent some 45,000 military personnel to the Persian Gulf to join in the U.S.-led attack against Iraq. Fourteen British and eight American servicemen have been killed since the beginning of the war against Iraq.
Six British troops and a U.S. Navy officer died Saturday when two British Royal Navy helicopters collided over the Persian Gulf.
Another helicopter crash Friday claimed the lives of eight British and four U.S. Marines. The CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed and burned about nine miles south of the Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr. Military officials said no hostile fire was reported in the area.
Two U.S. Marines were killed in combat Friday, and a member of the 101st Airborne division died in a grenade blast Saturday.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press | Privacy Policy
|
| Files Listed: 12 |
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material
available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political,
human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes. For more information,
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use
copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond
'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
