What should happen to the USAF Pilots that Friendly Fire bombed the Canadians?

[Tonto 1]

Nothing new here. The Brits lost more men to the US than they did to Iraq during the Gulf War Part 1...
You guys always hit what you aim at... just sometimes you aim at the wrong stuff.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[diverdriver 5]

I believe that one of these pilots is a airline pilot while not flying F-16s. These "reserve" pilots don't fly as combat pilots all the time. They are experienced enough to fly the F-16s and defend their country. But when you make them take drugs that are ILLEGAL to take as an airline pilot because they have been shown to degrade judgement (yes alertness is increased but judgement has been decreased) then what do you expect can happen sometimes? They will make mistakes.

And as for the ROE they had the right to engage the enemy if they came under attack. I don't think people realise the perspective of gunfire in the middle of darkness. When I'm flying at night over the city lights of Chicago EVERY plane within 50 miles can be visible and they all look like they are flying directly AT me. This is an illusion. That's why we have pretty lights on our planes so that we can tell if something is flying at us, away from us, or to the side of us. In WAR you don't get pretty lights telegraphing your intentions. If they had large guns firing in the middle of desert blackness I don't think we can judge them honestly. And if there was supposed to be a signal light indicating "friendlies" then they can't be held accountable either.

Add in long patrols. The home side sentiment is "Kill these bastards who killed our citizens on 9/11". You are given a drug and told to use it to stay awake even though in your other flying job you are told NOT to take it because it degrades judgement. You want to do a good job. You ask about a target that appears to be firing on you. You see a large vehichle firing (seems to be at you). You know you are at war with the Al Quada and the Taliban. This is a WAR ON TERRORISM. You decide that it is kill or be killed and if you leave this target then someone else may have to come back and finish the job. You are in place to do the job you are trained to do (not run with your tail between your legs)...........What do you think are the possibilities that this accident won't happen again? I'll put my money on it happening again every time.

These guys should not spend time in jail. They should be instructors so they can pass on the experience to other pilots. They have a valuable perspective that can't be read about. It has to be talked about face to face. When you talk to another pilot about an emergency experience (or in this case a combat experience) you get much more out of talking directly to them rather than reading some sanitised written report.

That's all I've got to say about that.

Chris

[dterrick 0]

Quote

...It was not one of the Navys proudest episodes nor will this Canadian Friendly Fire incident be one of the USAF's.

Mike

Well and simply said.

Today's newspaper echoed the fact that the pilots ignored the Airspace Control Orders - are ACO's something that should get "lost" in the information barrage? I bet it will ultimately be "the lawyers" that determine this one

Anyone else ever watch JAG? Bet this will be an episode someday...

Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[steve1 5]

It sounds to me like they're trying to make scapegoats out of these guys. I doubt if the drugs in their system were strong enough to hurt their judgment significantly. This is the type of sensationalism that sells newspapers though. I can imagine the headlines they could dream up condemning these pilots. A terrible mistake was made, but I doubt if punishing these pilots is going to change anything or even help. Having them work as instructors would be a good idea. Maybe their insight could prevent this type of accident from happening again. I think these pilots have been persecuted enough. Steve1

[SkyDekker 1,147]

I am fairly torn on this issue. In one way I think they are being made scapegoats. On the other hand, why did they break from established procedure and not just leave the area until it was established if they were friendlies? To me it only makes sense that if you have already been told that there is a possibilitiy that they are friendlies, why not high tail it out of the area until it has been established.

They thought they were being shot at, yet they did not take any evasive action whatsoever? That is what I don't understand. I would hope that if someone shoots at me, I will duck for cover before I decide if I am going to shoot back. Especially if as a pilot, I am aware that at night it could just be an illusion.

I think that there was definitely a breakdown in communication, though it has ben stated that the information was contained in certain briefings. However, I am also convinced that some of the blame rests on the shoulders of the pilots.

The argument, that such incidents happen and therefor we should just all turn a blind eye, to me is just utterly stupid.