News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: US Aircraft Downed Over Iraq

Date: July 18, 2001

5:19 AM EST

"U.S. Warplane Crashes on Its Way to Patrol Over Iraq
The Associated Press
Published: Jul 18, 2001

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - A U.S. F-16 fighter jet crashed in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday as it was heading toward northern Iraq to patrol a no-fly zone, the U.S. military said.

It is believed to be the first U.S. aircraft to have gone down in 10 years of patrols over the no-fly zones. The U.S. military has flown more than 200,000 sorties over the no-fly zones during that time.

The pilot ejected from the aircraft, but there was no immediate information on whether he had been rescued, said Maj. Ed Loomis, a spokesman for the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Turkish military, however, issued a statement saying that the pilot parachuted to safety.

The Turkish military said the aircraft crashed at 10:09 a.m. due to engine failure, and that military police are examining the wreckage.

Loomis said the cause of the crash was not known, but added that it was not due to hostile action.

The plane took off from Incirlik air base in southern Turkey and crashed near the town of Diyarbakir, about half-way between Incirlik and the Iraqi border.

Incirlik is about 350 miles from the Iraqi border.

Some 50 U.S. warplanes, including F-15 and F-16 fighters, are based in Incirlik. The aircraft patrol a no-fly zone over northern Iraq.

The United States and Britain have been enforcing no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq since the end of the Gulf War in 1991.

Iraq, which regards the zones as violations of its territorial sovereignty, has been challenging the patrols since December 1998.

Russia, China and France say there is no Security Council authorization for the no-fly zones; Britain and the United States say they were authorized under resolutions calling for the protection of Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq and Kurds in the north. "