Judge Opposes Charging Pilot in Iraq Downing : Military: Lt. Col. Randy W. May faces 26 negligent-homicide counts. His commander is likely to follow recommendation not to court-martial him.

An American military judge in Germany has recommended dismissal of all charges against Lt. Col. Randy W. May, the F-15 fighter pilot who mistakenly shot down a U.S. Army helicopter over Iraq last spring, the Air Force announced Tuesday.

The recommendation by investigating officer Col. Edward M. Starr was given to May’s commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Eugene D. Santarelli, who is expected to issue a decision next week on whether to convene a full court-martial in one of the U.S. military’s worst “friendly fire” cases.

U.S. officials in Washington said it is likely that Santarelli would go along with the recommendation and May’s attorney, Capt. Earl Martin, said he is “overwhelmingly hopeful” that the charges would be dismissed.

The 41-year-old May, a decorated pilot with almost 20 years of service in the Air Force, is charged with 26 counts of negligent homicide for his role in shooting down two U.S. helicopters while on patrol to enforce a United Nations-ordered ban on Iraqi military flights. He also faces two charges of dereliction of duty.

May and Capt. Eric A. Wickson, members of the 53rd Fighter Squadron based in Germany, shot down two Black Hawks that they said they mistook for Iraqi Hind helicopters. Twenty-six people aboard the helicopters--15 U.S. citizens, five Kurds working for the United States and six military officials from Britain, France and Turkey--were killed in the April 14 tragedy.

The deaths provoked tremendous public outrage against the military and the Pentagon vowed to bring those responsible to justice.

But criminal charges in a “friendly fire” case are extremely rare and after Lt. Col. May was charged last September many members of the military voiced suspicions that he was a scapegoat to the cause of public relations. They also expressed fear that such harsh treatment of “friendly fire” mistakes would have a chilling effect on troops in the field.

In addition to May, five members of a U.S. Airborne Warning and Control System crew were charged with several counts of dereliction of duty and three of them were given hearings at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma last month. The judge in that case recommended that one officer be court-martialed and another crewman receive administrative punishment.

In presenting its charges against May, the Air Force said that he was directed by Wickson, the lead pilot, to confirm that the helicopters were Iraqi Hinds and had failed to do so, giving the go-ahead to shoot them down instead.

Wickson has not been charged in the shooting. He testified against the AWACS officers, saying that they had failed to properly notify the F-15 pilots that the helicopters were friendly aircraft.

May’s hearing began on Nov. 7 at the U.S. Air Force base at Sembach and was closed to the press.

In making his decision, Starr apparently focused on the minute or so in which the pilots whizzed past the helicopters, decided to attack and radioed the AWACS crew.

“Under what (Starr) considered to be the most likely scenario of events, Col. May did not do anything wrong,” Martin said.