Deady Crash of U.S.-Made Plane in Colombia
P E R E I R A, Colombia, Sept. 2, 2000 -- A U.S.-made Colombian warplane crashedtoday amid heavy fighting between leftist rebels and governmentforces, killing seven airmen, the military said.
In addition, at least eight government soldiers and 12 rebelsdied in the ground combat at a communications complex on MountMontezuma, 155 miles west of the capital, Bogota. The clash was thebloodiest since President Clinton visited Colombia on Wednesday tosupport President Andres Pastrana’s fight against drug traffickersand leftist rebels who protect drug crops.
The AC-47 Vietnam-era gunship outfitted with .50-caliber machineguns crashed into an 11,200-foot-high mountain at about 5 a.m. asit returned to base from the fighting, the Colombian air force saidin a communique. There were no survivors, and all those aboard wereColombian, the air force said.
Air Force Gen. Jairo Garcia insisted the plane was not shotdown. He said poor visibility may have been a factor, because thecrash happened just before dawn in cloudy weather.
The plane, which was used extensively by U.S. forces during theVietnam War and was known as “Puff the Magic Dragon,” had beenproviding fire support for the ground troops.
U.S. Training and Technology
The Pentagon had equipped the plane with Forward-LookingInfrared Sensors, or FLIRS, and night-vision goggles, said Gen.Alfredo Velasco, Colombia’s air force chief. The pilots had beentrained in night-flying either by U.S. military pilots or by otherColombian pilots who had received training from the Americans,Velasco told reporters.
The fighting began Friday afternoon at the communicationscomplex, which controls cellular and other telephone links to muchof western Colombia.
About 600 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombiaattacked approximately 50 government soldiers at the complex, said Gen.Fernando Tapia, commander in chief of Colombian military forces.The rebels were repelled by the government forces andreinforcements from the provincial capital, Pereira, militaryofficials said.
Today, President Pastrana, Tapia and other military brassvisited the communications complex aboard a U.S.-made Black Hawkhelicopter. Tapia said government troops were still clashing withretreating rebels nearby.
Army helicopters ferried some of the rebel dead to a base inPereira. Five rebel corpses — four men and a woman — were laid outon the grass under a huge sheet. The number of confirmed rebel deadstood at 12.
Tapia called the rebel assault an “all-around failure” becausethey failed to capture the complex. Up to 50 rebels may have died,he said.
Five government soldiers based at the communications complexwere killed in the fighting, said army Gen. Nestor Ramirez Mejia.In addition, battalion commander Lt. Col. Jorge Sanchez Rodriguezand two of his soldiers died when rebels ambushed them as theyrushed to reinforce the complex, he said.
The rebel group, called by their Spanish acronym, FARC, havebeen fighting Colombia’s government for some 36 years. They controlvast tracts of southern jungle, financing their insurgency bytaxing peasants who grow drug crops and protecting drugtraffickers.
Under a new $1.3 billion U.S. aid package, Washington is sending60 combat helicopters to government security forces and elite U.S.troops are training Colombian anti-narcotics army troops.