The report did not directly assign blame but said neither nation had been following the full set of procedures developed by the two governments in 1994 to avoid such inadvertent downings.

The missionaries' Cessna float plane was shot down by a Peruvian jet April 20 after a CIA-operated surveillance flight identified it as a possible drug flight. An American missionary and her infant daughter were killed.

The United States has suspended drug surveillance flights since the downing. The report did not address whether flights should be resumed or recommend changes in policy; those issues will be part of a follow-up report being prepared by Morris Busby, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia.

A black and white videotape, shot from the nose of the surveillance plane, shows the downing. In the accompanying audio, the voices of the Americans could be heard expressing increasing skepticism that the Cessna was being flown by "banditos"

When the firing starts, an American pilot starts screaming "No! Don't shoot! No mas, no mas!" _ Spanish for "no more no more." The other pilot says "God."

The Peruvian aboard the plane spoke limited English and the Americans spoke minimal Spanish. The report said language limitations, an overloaded communications system and cumbersome procedures impeded the flow of messages as the U.S. crew raised doubts that the Cessna was indeed a drug flight.

Among the examples cited:

_The Peruvian on the surveillance plane didn't understand the American pilot when he suggested they try to get the Cessna to land before firing weapons.

_The Americans weren't immediately aware when the Peruvians identified the registration number of the airplane _ something that would have allowed them to identify the plane's owners.

_About a minute before the shooting, the U.S. pilot tried to tell the Peruvian on board that the Cessna had contacted the control tower for the first time. But the Peruvian, who was talking to the fighter plane, didn't understand the message because of communications congestion.

In the 15 minutes leading up to the shooting, attempts by the Americans to communicate with the Peruvian "were not understood because of the stressful situation and the language problems prevailing on board," the report said.

The report also said that the Americans and Peruvians had been suspicious of the flight because no flight plan had been filed and it seemed to follow an erratic course that could send it into Brazilian or Colombian territory.

The missionary group, the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, has said pilot Kevin Donaldson was following customary practice in the area by calling in his flight plan as he came within radio range of the tower. The report also noted that he was following the winding course of the Amazon River in case he needed to make an emergency landing.

The report said the Peruvian jet had fired warning shots, but they were never seen by Donaldson. To maintain the low speed needed to follow the Cessna, the jet was putting its nose up, so the shots would have passed above the missionary plane and out of Donaldson's view.

Peru's policy of shooting at suspected drug flights is credited with sharply reducing the country's production of coca. Peru had been the world's leading producer of coca, with traffickers flying it into neighboring Colombia for processing into cocaine. Since the policy of shooting down suspected drug flights was begun in the early 1990s, much of the coca production has left Peru and moved into Colombia.

Opponents of the policy argue that firing at a civilian plane, even one with narcotics traffickers aboard, is immoral and violates international law. They say no safeguards would ensure that innocent planes aren't hit.

Fears that innocent planes could be shot down prompted the United States to temporarily suspend sharing drug surveillance data with Peru and Colombia in 1994. Cooperation did not resume until Congress granted immunity to Americans and worked out safeguards to prevent mistakes.

Safeguards included requirements that chase planes try to contact suspect planes by radio, tip their wings as a warning and fire warning shots.

By the late 1990s, though, both governments became less careful about following those procedures and more concerned on the safety of their own flights, according to the joint report.

One step that had been eliminated was having the pursuing plane make visual contact with the suspect planes and gesture to it by tipping its wings, said Assistant Secretary of State Rand Beers, who headed the American side of the investigative team.

Killed in the April incident were American missionary Veronica Bowers and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity. Her husband, Jim Bowers, and their 6-year-old son, Cory, survived unharmed. Pilot Kevin Donaldson suffered serious bullet wounds to his legs.

On the Net:

State Department narcotics control bureau: http://www.state.gov/g/inl/narc/

State Department's fact sheet on Peru program: http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/fs/index.cfm?docid2180

Source: Associated Press
Author: Ken Guggenheim
Published: August 2, 2001
Copyright: 2001 Associated Press

Related Articles & Web Site:

Colombia Drug War News
http://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htm

Report Shows Why Peru Shot Down Plane
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10508.shtml

U.S. Shares Fault In Peru Incident
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10482.shtml

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Heaven help us. The killing over there eventually will find its way here unless we can stop this now.

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