Errant bomb kills U.S. servicemen

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, MARCH 13. The Pentagon is not saying much on the accident involving a U.S. Navy plane in Kuwait resulting in the death of five American and one New Zealand military personnel, but American investigators are expected to arrive at the scene later this week.

Teams from the U.S. and Kuwait are to jointly probe how an F-18 from the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman dropped a 500-pound bomb on soldiers participating in a live fire exercise near the border with Iraq. One aspect will be to find out whether the plane missed its target or was wrongly guided by ground personnel.

The U.S. military along with Kuwaiti forces routinely engage in exercises at the permanent training range near Udairi. American aircraft from carriers patrolling the Gulf also participate in the year round exercises.

The accident in Kuwait involving the U.S. Navy is the second serious mishap in the last six weeks. Reports in the media point to a number of mistakes made by Navy pilots in recent years including one in 1998 when a Navy Prowler cut a cable supporting a ski gondola in Italy killing 20 persons. The President, Mr. George W Bush, during a tour of Florida promoting his domestic agenda, paid homage to those service personnel killed in Monday's accident. ``I am reminded today of how dangerous service can be. We lost some servicemen today in a training accident. I hope you'll join me in a moment of silence for those soldiers and their families,'' he said.

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Section  : International
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