"An uncanny accident, an uncanny accident." Doesn't that make
you sick. I would call it war crimes.
Paul Phillips,
Economics,
University of Manitoba
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 12:18:00 -0700
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: PILOT KNEW HE HAD HIT TRAIN ON BRIDGE BUT FIRED AGAIN
The Daily Telegraph April 14, 1999
PILOT KNEW HE HAD HIT TRAIN ON BRIDGE BUT FIRED AGAIN
Nato working to limit "collateral damage," loss
of civilian life from air strike campaign; air crews
felt "very badly" about the incident.
By Toby Helm in Brussels
The pilot who bombed a Yugoslav passenger train in which at
least 10 people died fired a second missile after he had realised his
error, Nato's top commander said yesterday.
Gen Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander for Europe,
said the hits on the train as it was crossing the Grdelica bridge in
south-eastern Serbia on Monday had been the result of a double
"uncanny accident". Sixteen people were also injured.
The first missile had been fired from a distance of several miles.
The pilot had seen a "flash of movement" in his sight just before he
fired. But by then it was too late to abort the attack. He said: "He
realised when it happened that he had not hit the bridge - that what
he had hit was the train."
The pilot then circled and attempted to carry out his orders to
destroy the bridge by firing at the other end, which by this time was
clouded in fire and smoke. Gen Clark said: "At the last minute,
again in an uncanny accident, the train had slipped forward so that
striking the other end of the bridge he actually caused additional
damage to the train. It is one of those regrettable things that happen
in a campaign like this one."
Nato was working very hard to limit "collateral damage" and
loss of civilian life from its air strike campaign. Its air crews felt
"very badly" about the incident. "It was certainly not was intended,"
said Gen Clark, who attributed no blame to the pilot. Nato officials
refused to say what type of plane was involved or give the
nationality of the pilot, but it is known that he is not British.
Yugoslav officials have used the incident, recorded in a cockpit
film shown by Nato yesterday, to bolster their propaganda
offensive against the allied air strikes. The video film of the "aim
point" showed the train coming into sight fractionally before the
missile exploded.
Caroline Davies in Gioia del Colle writes: Nato planes are
undertaking three times the number of missions they flew last week
as RAF Harrier pilots' work intensifies.
Working 12 hours on, 12 hours off, the No 1 Fighter Squadron
is launching 24-hour raids on Kosovo and Serbia from the Gioia del
Colle airbase in Italy. The crucial development is the clearance by
Nato's air attack command centre in Vicenza, Italy, to allow the
GR7s to bomb through cloud. It ended days of frustration when
Harrier pilots were forced to abort missions.
The Harriers are undertaking rolling raids, dropping one set of
weapons, then returning to base to be re-armed and await
instructions on new targets. They can carry mixed loads, different
weapons on different Harriers, so that even if one cannot drop
another can. They are being regularly re-tasked in the air so that
Nato can exploit their versatility and divert them to targets such as
fuel installations or military convoys when opportunities arise. This
means that sorties can be longer, and they have to refuel in mid-air,
but it has resulted in more hits.
Wing Cdr Graham Wright, the RAF Detachment Commander at
the base, said: "An increasing number of sorties are being flown
from here. And I think that's indicative of the whole campaign."
The decision on which weapons the Harriers will carry is made at
high level in the Nato command chain.
[PEN-L:5366] (Fwd) PILOT KNEW HE HAD HIT TRAIN ON BRIDGE BUT FIRED AGAIN
ts99u-1.cc.umanitoba.ca [130.179.154.224] Thu, 15 Apr 1999 22:10:32 -0500
