Pubdate: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times Contact: http://www.latimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248 Author: Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?172 (Peruvian Aircraft Shooting) REPORT ON MISSIONARY PLANE IN PERU WASHINGTON -- More than three months after an American missionary plane was mistakenly shot down over Peru, investigators are saying what went wrong. What they aren't saying is what should be done about it. A joint U.S.-Peruvian report due Thursday was expected to conclude that procedural errors and miscommunications led to the April 20 downing that killed an American missionary and her infant daughter. Crew members aboard a CIA-operated surveillance plane mistakenly identified the missionaries' Cessna as a possible drug flight and were unable to stop a Peruvian jet from shooting it down after they realized it was probably innocent. The United States has suspended drug surveillance flights since the downing. The question of resuming them has prompted debates about whether their value in deterring traffickers offsets the risk that innocent planes could be targeted again. The joint investigation, led by Assistant Secretary of State Rand Beers, was limited to determining facts surrounding the downing and did not directly assign blame. The investigators also did not recommend policy changes to prevent similar incidents or suggest whether the United States should resume providing drug surveillance information to Peru and Colombia that could result in other planes being fired at. Those issues will be addressed in a separate report being prepared by Morris Busby, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia. Opponents of the shoot-down policy argue that firing at a civilian plane, even one with narcotics traffickers aboard, is immoral and violates international law. They say no safeguards would assure that innocent planes aren't hit. "We oppose the shoot-down policy because it's ludicrous to think there is a failsafe system," said Pete West, senior vice president of the 6,500 member National Business Aviation Association. Advocates of the shoot-down policy credit it with a sharp drop in coca production in Peru. The country had been the world's leading producer of coca, with traffickers flying it into neighboring Colombia for processing into cocaine. Since the shoot-down policy began in the early 1990s, much of the coca production has left Peru and moved into Colombia. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., said he believes the policy should be changed to allow shoot-downs only when there is no possibility that the target is innocent. If there is even a slight doubt, the plane should not be fired on, he said. "When you shoot down a plane, it is probably certain death, and if occasionally one gets away because your checklist isn't quite working out right, that's no big deal," he said. Fears that innocent planes could be shot down prompted the United States to temporarily suspend sharing drug surveillance data with Peru and Colombia in 1994. Cooperation did not resume until Congress granted immunity to Americans and worked out safeguards to prevent mistakes. Safeguards included requirements that chase planes try to contact suspect planes by radio, tip their wings as a warning and fire warning shots. The investigators looking into the April 20 shooting have found that U.S. and Peruvian officials in recent years have failed to follow those procedures closely, officials have told The Associated Press. "Familiarity, routine leads to sloppiness, and I think this had to be anticipated, and it's now time to change the policy," said Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., who opposes providing data that could lead to shoot-downs. Killed in the April incident were American missionary Veronica Bowers and her 7-month-old daughter Charity. Her husband, Jim Bowers, and their 6-year-old son, Cory, survived unharmed. Pilot Kevin Donaldson suffered serious bullet wounds to his legs. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth