U.S.-Hired Pilot Dies in Crash of Anti-Drug Flight
A U.S.-contracted pilot was killed in Colombia when his crop-dusting plane crashed on a drug-eradication mission, the U.S. Embassy in Bogota said.
Rebels who oppose spraying of drug crops and operate near the southern Colombia accident site were not believed to have fired on the plane. The embassy said it was investigating the incident. It did not identify the pilot, who was described only as a non-U.S. citizen hired by Pentagon contractor DynCorp.
Colombia’s drug-eradication program has received more than $1 billion in U.S. aid. Rebels often fire on crop dusters spraying coca, the plant from which cocaine is made.
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