U.S.
Searching for Downed Fighter Pilot
April 3, 2003 09:29 AM EST
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Other aircraft reported seeing surface-to-air
missiles and anti-aircraft fire in the area where the plane disappeared,
said Lt. Brook DeWalt, a spokesman for the Kitty Hawk.
At the U.S. Central Command briefing in Qatar, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks was asked if a Patriot missile may have downed the plane. Brooks would not confirm that. He said there had been surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missile fire in the area. "We have more examination to do at this point," he said. "It's too early for me to be able to determine what the cause was." Iraqi television broadcast pictures Thursday of what it said was the wreckage of the downed Hornet. Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf claimed the aircraft was shot down by Saddam's Fedayeen, a paramilitary force. "We're now trying to exhaust them, making them more tired until our leadership decides the time and method to clean our territory of their desecration," he said. Navy and Marine pilots fly the F/A-18 from aircraft carriers. The supersonic jets are armed with a 20mm cannon and can carry a range of bombs and missiles. The easily maneuverable Hornet can operate as a fighter jet, shooting down enemy planes, or as an attack plane, bombing enemy targets. |