Pilotless U.S. Spy Plane Crashes Over Northeastern El Salvador
A pilotless U.S. spy plane crashed early today in northeastern El Salvador, a U.S. Embassy official confirmed.
Military sources in San Francisco Gotera, near where the plane crashed, said it measured about 20 feet long and had no room for a pilot.
The sources said the equipment in the plane was recovered and that the wreckage would be taken to San Salvador for study.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Donald R. Hamilton confirmed that the plane was on an American intelligence-gathering mission in support of Salvadoran government military operations and said the Salvadoran government was aware of it.
He declined to say where the flight originated, what branch of the U.S. government operated it or if other planes were carrying out similar missions.
Hamilton said it could not be determined if the plane was shot down or crashed from mechanical failure but said it was doubtful it was downed by leftist rebels who have been fighting the U.S.-backed government for nearly six years.
However, a correspondent for a San Salvador radio station said witnesses told him the plane appeared to have bullet holes in the fuselage.
The plane reportedly crashed at about 6:30 a.m. near San Carlos, 100 miles northeast of the capital.
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