Navy Changes Status of Gulf War Pilot

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 11 -- In an unusual move, the Navy has changedthe status of a pilot shot down in an F/A-18fighter on the opening night of the 1991 Gulf War, from KIA to MIA.

A Defense Department official told ABCNEWS, "We have reason to think he survived the ejection."

Navy Secretary Richard Danzig notified the family of Lt. Cmdr. Michael Speicher yesterday, according to officials at the office of Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., who has long challenged the Pentagon’sofficial “finding of death” for Speicher. The officials discussedthe matter on condition they not be identified. Pentagon officialsconfirmed the information.

Speicher, of Jacksonville, Fla., was shot down over Iraq (north of Baghdad) on Jan. 17, 1991 during an air-to-air battle with an Iraqi fighter. He was the first American lost in the war and the last still unaccounted for. His wingman reported two balls of fire. He said he saw one when he thought the plane had been hit and another when the plane hit the ground. There was never any communication from the ground so, at that point, Speicher was listed as "killed in action, body not recovered."

In 1995 U.S. investigators visited the crash site and knew instantly that the Iraqis had been there. Investigators said they found the site had been excavated.

Demands on Iraqi Government

A State Department official sent a new diplomatic note to Baghdad demanding the Iraqi government tell all it knows about Speicher’s fate.

Last March, Smith and Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., asked Danzig tochange Speicher’s status to missing in action, reflecting evidenceof doubt about whether he survived the crash. Smith met with Danzigagain Dec. 20 on the matter, officials said.

In a letter dated Dec. 18, Sandy Berger, President Clinton’snational security adviser, told Smith a recent intelligenceassessment “has stimulated a high-level review of this case —-several new actions are under way and additional steps are underintense review.”