Discipline Weighed in Iraq Copter Deaths

The Clinton Administration faces a controversial decision over whether to discipline the pilots of the Air Force F-15C jet fighters that shot down a pair of U.S. Blackhawk helicopters over Iraq two months ago, sources familiar with the case said Thursday.

A formal report on the tragedy, on its way to top Pentagon officials this week after an inquiry by a military investigating team, is expected to confirm initial indications that the lead fighter pilot, relying on a visual sighting, mistook the helicopters for Iraqi Hinds.

Defense Secretary William J. Perry, who probably will make the final decision on the issue, is coming under pressure--both from some U.S. military officers and from the Turkish government--to court-martial the pilot on charges of negligence.

The April 14 tragedy claimed the lives of all 26 crew members and passengers on the two helicopters, including 15 Americans and three Turkish officers.

The decision is expected to be difficult for an Administration that already has had its problems with the uniformed services. Insiders said the military is split over the issue and that the pilot, whose identity has not been made public, is a Persian Gulf War veteran.

Those arguing for court-martial proceedings--said to include a growing number of senior Air Force officers--contended the pilot’s error was so grievous that it amounted to negligence.

The U.S. helicopters were clearly marked and were flying at slow speeds, clearly no threat to the fighters. And the helicopters had filed flight plans with U.S. military authorities in the region. But Gen. Merrill A. McPeak, Air Force chief of staff, is said to strongly oppose any such action on grounds the pilot’s mistake was understandable under rules of war.

The investigation has been kept under wraps, with only a handful of officials informed on its progress.

But sources familiar with the report said it is expected to reaffirm that the helicopters were shot down because the lead F-15C pilot misidentified them when he first saw them and did not take extra precautions to confirm what nationality they were.

Any punishment is expected to fall mainly on the lead pilot. The pilot of the second F-15C is expected to receive less of the blame because by practice he follows the senior flier.

The investigators’ report is also expected to reassert that transponders carried by the two helicopters--known as “identification, friend-or-foe”--had been turned off in a previous landing stop and had not been reactivated before takeoff, as procedures require.

But that point could be moot. Experts familiar with military flight procedures said that once a fighter pilot decides to act on the basis of visual identification of a potential foe, the decision overrides any other element.

There is substantial debate over how easily an Air Force-trained fighter pilot should have been able to tell that the helicopters were Blackhawks rather than Iraqi Hinds. Military experts said the two have a similar appearance when the Blackhawks carry fuel pods but that differences remain.

But sources familiar with the case have said the Blackhawks both bore standard U.S. markings and that the bottom of the fuel pod was adorned with a large, full-color replica of the U.S. flag.

Although the standard markings, which are relatively small, might have been visible from above, the fighter pilot would not have been able to see the flag replica without flying under the two helicopters.

U.S. officials said the Blackhawks were flying slowly, having just taken off from a village airport. They also had filed a flight plan with U.S. authorities. The helicopters had been ferrying high-level officials on a tour of Kurdish villages.

The downing came as a jolt to the Air Force, which has been plagued by a rash of similar incidents. Immediately after the accident occurred, Perry tightened procedures for determining when fighter pilots may shoot at another aircraft inside the “no fly” zone--essentially prohibiting them from firing solely upon visual identification.