Report Shows Why Peru Shot Down Missionary Plane
W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 2, 2001 -- The Peruvian Air Forceidentified the U.S. missionary plane shot down by mistake inApril but the message never reached those responsible fordeciding whether it was on a drug smuggling mission, accordingto a joint U.S.-Peruvian report released today.
The mistake was one of many, compounded by languagebarriers and communications overload, which led to the death ofmissionary Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter during theflight over northern Peru on April 20.
After the accident, Peru and Colombia suspended their U.S.-backed programs to intercept drug courier flights in theAndes, easing the pressure on the traffickers who supply mostof the cocaine to the U.S. market.
The report, from a team led by U.S. Assistant Secretary ofState Rand Beers and Peruvian Air Force Maj. Gen. Jorge KisicWagner, did not assign blame but concluded that the peoplerunning the program had diluted over the years the proceduresset out in a 1994 agreement.
In the Peruvian program, U.S. surveillance planes staffedby Americans and Peruvian Air Force fighters are meant to worktogether to deal with suspect flights over the jungle.
The report said: "By the late 1990s references to the fullrange of procedures ... became less detailed and explicit inimplementing documents."
"The language limitations of Peruvian and Americanparticipants — particularly under stress — played a role inreducing the timely flow of information.
No Flight Plan
"Communications systems overload and cumbersome proceduresplayed a role in reducing timely and accurate compliance withall applicable directives," it added.
Other factors were that the pilot of the missionary plane,Kevin Donaldson, did not file a flight plan for his trip fromIslandia to Iquitos and did not hear vital messages from thePeruvian fighter because his VHF radio was turned off.
But perhaps the biggest surprise in the report is that thePeruvian fighter co-pilot correctly reported the registrationnumber of Donaldson's plane — OB-1408 — at least eightminutes before the fighter opened fire on the missionaries.
The crew of the U.S. surveillance plane, including thePeruvian who traveled with them, did not hear this messagebecause they were busy with other conversations.
Earlier in the flight Peruvian personnel on the ground hadasked air traffic controllers in the region for the location ofOB-1408 because they wanted to be sure it was not confused fora plane suspected of carrying drugs.
Complicated Exchange of Messages
But the air traffic controllers told them erroneously thatthe missionary plane was still at Islandia.
When the fighter plane did open fire, Donaldson had alreadyspoken to the Iquitos control tower. He told them that militaryaircraft were in the area but the control tower did not respondto that part of his message.
On several occasions during the complicated exchange ofmessages, the language barrier between the Spanish speakers andthe English speakers mean that they did not receive vitalinformation or respond to requests.
The 12-page report does not make any recommendations aboutthe future of the interdiction flights.
The former U.S. ambassador to Colombia, Morris Busby, ispreparing a separate report on that, but State Departmentofficials say they do not know when it will be ready.