Shoulder-Fired Missiles

Re “Add One to Perils of Flying,” Commentary, Dec. 3: James Pinkerton failed to mention two horrifying incidents of civilian airliners shot down by shoulder-fired missiles: two Air Rhodesia Viscount airliners shot down by Marxist fighters using SA-7 missiles during the Rhodesian civil war in the late ‘70s. One plane crashed with all on board killed, but in the other incident, the plane was hit and managed a crash landing with some survivors. The survivors were then attacked and killed or wounded on the ground by the insurgents. A few lucky passengers survived by hiding from the terrorists. All the dead or wounded were civilians and included women and children.

Karl Vogeley

Valencia