U.S. pilots wept, swore after firing on British

Last Updated: Tuesday, February 6, 2007 | 9:09 AM ET

CBC News

An American fighter pilot wept and another said he was going to be sick after learning they had mistakenly fired on a British military convoy in Iraq, according to a cockpit videotape released by a London newspaper.

The Sun on Tuesday released what it says is the cockpit video of two U.S. pilots involved in the 2003 attack that killed British soldier Lance Cpl. Matty Hull.

Lance Cpl. Matty Hull died after American jets attacked a British convoy in Iraq in 2003.
(Bruce Adam/ Associated Press)

A coroner investigating Hull's death had demanded the video be released and presented as evidence in the inquest but U.S. authorities refused.

The leak means that the material is now in the public domain, the coroner's office said Tuesday, suggesting it may be shown when the inquest resumes Feb. 16.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Tuesday that London was working with Washington to get as much information on the incident as possible.

"We want as complete an inquest as possible. We want the coroner to have access to as much evidence as possible. We are working with the U.S. to achieve that," Beckett said during a visit to Jerusalem.

Beckett spoke after clips of the 15-minute video were widely shown on British media.

Later Tuesday, the U.S. agreed to show the video to the coroner and the victim's family.

Pilots shocked, sad

One pilot can be heard on the grainy, black-and-white video asking air controllers whether allied forces were in the region.

Another pilot questions whether orange panels on the vehicles indicate they are "friendlies." Coalition vehicles are equipped with bright markers to prevent such incidents. A voice on the tape says they could be orange rockets.

Ground control confirms twice there were no friendly forces in the region.

Two U.S. A-10 jets allegedly opened fire on Hull's tank, which was part of a five-vehicle convoy engaged in combat outside Basra. Four other soldiers were injured.

When the pilots were told they may have killed an allied soldier, the following exchange occurs:

• Pilot 1 - "I'm going to be sick."
• Pilot 2 - "Ah, f---."
• Pilot 1 - "Did you hear?"
• Pilot 2 - "Yeah, this sucks."
• Pilot 1 - "We're in jail, dude."

A pilot is heard weeping on the video, as the other pilot asks if he's OK.

The Sun didn't explain how it got the video.

No comment from Pentagon

The Pentagon declined comment Tuesday, but the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in London, David Johnson, told the British Broadcasting Corp. it would consider de-classifying the video if the military determined it would not put forces at risk.

U.S. military officials conducted their own investigation but the findings have not been made public.

Military analyst Paul Beaver said the incident is tragic and deeply embarrassing for U.S. forces.

"And what you see from that, my first conclusion is a whole series of mistakes which lead me to believe that this was not a deliberate attack on these vehicles — it was purely a negligent identification."

In 2002, an American F-16 fighter jet mistakenly dropped a 225-kilogram bomb on Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, killing four and injuring eight.

The two pilots involved in the incident didn't face courts martial, but did face non-judicial hearings. One was reprimanded and retired from the military, while the second was reprimanded and fined.

With files from the Associated Press