U.S. pilots took amphetamines an hour before 'friendly fire' incident
WASHINGTON - ABC News says it has obtained cockpit voice recordings of the U.S. pilots involved in the 'friendly fire' incident in Afghanistan that killed four Canadian soldiers and injured eight others. The report also says drugs may have played a role.
The report says both pilots had taken amphetamines about an hour before the incident.
The drugs, commonly known as 'go-pills,' are standard issue in the U.S. Air Force to help pilots stay awake during long combat missions.
The pilots involved in the 'friendly fire' incident, Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach, say they were told by their superiors they could be found unfit to fly unless they took the pills.
On the night of April 17, both pilots took the pills before their mission over Afghanistan.
It was then, under the full influence of the amphetamine pills, that the two pilots spotted weapons fired near the Kandahar military base.
"OK, so I've got some men on a road and it looks like a piece of artillery firing at us. I am rolling in in self-defence," Schmidt says on the tape.
Schmidt had been told to hold fire by controllers in an AWAC plane, but he was convinced he and Umbach were under attack. "Bombs away, cranking left, lasers on. Shack," he said as he opened fire.
It was only after Maj. Schmidt dropped the bomb that he was told the target was not the enemy, that there were "friendlies in Kandahar."
Schmidt hit a squad of Canadian soldiers conducting a live-fire exercise. Four died, eight were badly injured.
Schmidt and Umbach are facing four counts each of manslaughter and dereliction of duty. Now their legal teams are questioning whether the amphetamines the pilots took played a part in the deaths.
Eugene Carroll says it's nothing new. He's a former U.S. Navy pilot who was given pills to juice him up for long flights. "It's certainly something that has to be considered: are the drugs enhancing safety or are they creating situations that are dangerous in and of themselves?" he said.
The U.S. military says the drugs are controlled and has ruled out the 'go-pills' as being responsible for the incident.
Preliminary court martial proceedings against the two F-16 pilots begin next month. If convicted they could face up to 64 years in prison.
And the original article is from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:
American pilots on speed
[ 21 December 2002: Message edited by: VooDoo Gurl ]
