THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409250069
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BERLIN LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The Air Force pilot charged with negligent homicide in the downing of two U.S. helicopters over northern Iraq insisted Saturday he is innocent and was not derelict on that fateful April day.
Lt. Col. Randy W. May said that while he felt ``terribly sorry'' for the ``unthinkable heartache'' felt by the loved ones of the 26 people killed in the accident, he rejects any criminal culpability.
``My decision to fire was the last action in a long chain of events involving a number of people and agencies. Numerous errors occurred in that chain of events. The decision to fire was based on human error,'' May said in a statement released by his lead defense counsel.
``I was not derelict in the performance of my duties. I am innocent of the charges which have been brought against me,'' May said.
The statement was May's first response to the charges announced Sept. 8.
``There were mistakes made at many different levels,'' May's attorney, Air Force Capt. Earl Martin, said in a telephone interview. He said his client is confident he will be cleared.
The Pentagon has not denied mistakes were made by others, but only May has been charged with negligent homicide. Five others have been charged with dereliction in their duty in connection with the April 14 incident.
May faces the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing on Nov. 7. If the officers conducting the hearing decide to go ahead with a court martial and May is convicted, he could be imprisoned for up to 26 years.
The hearing, which will be closed to the public, is to be held at Sembach Air Base in Germany, headquarters of the 17th Air Force, Martin said.
May was flying with a lower-ranking F-15 pilot who visually misidentified the two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters as Iraqi Hinds violating the no-fly zone set up to protect Kurds from Iraqi air attack, the Pentagon says.
Officers on an AWACS radar plane had transmitted a message to the jet fighters that the two pilots interpreted as confirmation the choppers were Iraqi.
The lead pilot made a final effort to determine electronically whether the helicopters were friendly. Receiving no reply, he fired the radar-guided missile that downed the first Black Hawk. May then fired the missile that destroyed the second U.S. chopper.
Everybody aboard the two helicopters was killed - 15 Americans and 11 foreigners, including military officers from Britain, France and Turkey.
In his statement, May suggested the main fault lay outside his cockpit.
``The mission we flew was not conducted haphazardly, but was performed in a disciplined manner as planned and briefed,'' said May, a squadron commander.
A Pentagon study released in July said controllers aboard the AWACS plane knew there were two U.S. helicopters in the area but failed to notify the F-15 pilots of this when the fighter pilots reported seeing two choppers.
Five officers aboard the AWACS plane were charged with dereliction of duty. May's lead pilot was neither named nor charged.
May, who has been in the military nearly 20 years, is sequestered with his wife and two children at his home base in Spangdahlem, Germany. Martin said there were no restrictions on May's movements.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENTS MILITARY FATALITIES IRAQ
HELICOPTERS by CNB