Operation Provide Comfort; Review of U.S. Air Force Investigation of Black HawkFratricide Incident

摘要

On April 14,1994, two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters and their crews assignedto Operation Provide Comfort were transporting U.S., United Kingdom, French, and Turkish military officers; Kurdish representatives; and a U.S. political advisor in northern Iraq. Concurrently, a U.S. Air Force Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft was flying over Turkey to provide airborne threat warning and control for Operation Provide Comfort aircraft, including the Black Hawk helicopters. The pilots of two U.S. F-15 fighters patrolling the area misidentified the Black Hawks as Iraqi Hind helicopters and shot them down, killing all 26 individuals aboard. As a result of questions raised by concerned individuals, including family members of those killed in the fratricide, the House Committee on National Security held a hearing in August 1995 to examine the causes of the incident, the resulting investigation by an Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board, and the judicial actions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) that followed. After the hearing, the Committee asked GAO to determine if (1) the Board investigation of the shootdown had met its objectives, (2) the subsequent UCMJ investigations had followed established guidelines, and (3) Department of Defense and/or Air Force officials had improperly or unlawfully influenced these investigations. The Committee also requested that, during its investigation, GAO consider concerns of victims' family members and others, including corrective actions taken to help prevent another accident.