Threat by S.D.-Based Cruiser Against 747 Under Investigation

U.S. and Australian officials Wednesday were looking into an incident in which a San Diego-based Navy warship threatened to shoot down a jetliner that flew over a military exercise area in the Pacific.

The United States officially apologized to Australia on Tuesday after the guided missile cruiser Cowpens threatened the Qantas 747 and forced it to change course.

The Australian Bureau of Air Safety Investigation and Qantas are investigating the incident in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy.

Qantas spokesman Ken Boys said the incident happened early Monday about an hour after the plane, Flight QF12 with 301 passengers and 21 crew on board, took off from Los Angeles.

Boys said the Qantas pilot received an abrupt message from the warship telling him to get out of local airspace or face “hostile action.”

The pilot identified himself and the fact that he was on a commercial flight, and diverted the flight away from the area.

“The aircraft flew about 70 miles north and was then told to resume its own navigation, which it did,” said Ken Radford, deputy chief of operations for Qantas.

The jetliner eventually landed in Sydney 19 minutes behind schedule. Passengers were not told about the incident.

A spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans said an apology had been received from Washington.

A statement from the U.S. Department of Defense released in Canberra said the ship had “mistakenly used an international distress frequency, instead of a designated exercise frequency, to broadcast an exercise warning.”

The Cowpens was taking part in exercises about 900 miles east of Hawaii along with ships from Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea. Other aspects of the ongoing Rim Pac military maneuvers are being conducted at Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County.

One of the Navy’s prized high-technology warships, the Cowpens is an Aegis class cruiser that can shoot down as many as 200 incoming missiles and aircraft.

The Cowpens is in the same class as the San Diego-based Vincennes, which in July, 1988, shot down an Iranian jetliner mistakenly thought to be an attacking fighter jet in the Persian Gulf. All 290 people aboard were killed.