This is the real thing, people: this is the leaked video of a pair of American Airforce reserve fighter pilots killing British Lance Corporal Matty Hull near Basra in Iraq. There is a time lag on the audio here, so follow the subtitles (which were added by the investigators). The video dates from March 28th of 2003, and more details about the incident and investigation are here.
…the pilots, a lieutenant-colonel and major at the time of the incident, are flying warplanes again, attached to the 190th Air Fighter Squadron, based at Boise, Idaho…
The cockpit video reveals that the pilots clearly saw the orange panels on the top of the British armoured vehicles intended to identify them as friendly forces, but ultimately decided that they were rocket launchers. When one pilot suggested a return to base, the other said: “I think killing these damn rocket launchers, it would be great.”
Even after attacking the column, the transcript shows the pilots were still unsure whether they had attacked enemy or friendly troops.
“It doesn’t look friendly,” one pilot said. Minutes later, they were told of their mistake.
“We’re in jail dude,” one pilot said. “Goddam it. Fuck me dead,” the other cries.
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raincoaster 
I remember this incident. The pilots were court-martialed but effectively got little more than being kicked out of the Idaho Air National Guard. From what little actually got released in the news around that time, they should have been beaten to death.
Friendly fire my ass. The leader was criminally negligent at best and the wingman was stupid for not trying to get his element leader to stop.
I don’t know if I can even watch this. This sounds too awful – you know, I Am American and this embarrasses me.
We’re not all that bad – sure, we overeat, burp, fart in public and wear sweats at the mall but we’re not all that bad.
Stiletto,
I know we’re not all like this, and I don’t think these guys are exactly representative of our troops, airmen, sailors or Marines either. That’s what makes it all the more disgusting.
I know you’re not all like that. I am a big believer in what Clinton said: that there’s nothing wrong with America that can’t be cured by what is right with America.
These guys were way out of line, and tragedy resulted. You can’t just see things, fail to identify them, and start shooting at them. It couldn’t have been worse. And then to whine immediately about the effect on your own life? Those men should have done hard time; they should never have flown again, at the very least. I wouldn’t want to be in Boise.
And why do we not learn their names?
Give me a day and a bit of googling – their names were in the press a year or so ago
Also, let me clarify. Anyone who thinks those fluorescent panels are easily visible in a jet flying at 400 kts needs a reality check. But that also raises a general precaution in wartime: when in close contact with the enemy, if you can’t tell friendly from enemy, you don’t shoot.
Exactly. They could tell it was a bunch of tanks. They couldn’t tell whose they were; radioing back to base would have been a good idea. It’s not as if the tanks would hear them and speed up, out of range!
Their names were over at Yahoo! UK yesterday. One of them was a Lt-Col Kohntopp, I recall. He’s a Colonel now, training other pilots in air-to-ground work, apparently.
Perhaps the Air force is adopting the GW Bush promotion standard?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/08/npilot08.xml&site=5&page=0
What I just don’t get is how the brass can continue to get it wrong every damn time.
Don’t they have a single person with a little PR background to talk about contrition, and the advantages of coming clean and not pretending you didn’t £µ¢λ up in the face of the evidence?
Again, perhaps they’re taking their cues from the current regime. President Obama may have to organize a truth & reconcilliation comission.
Your Grace the Marchioness of WitchHampton under Buzzard
Your Grace
I urge folk to shew compassion towards these unfortunate pilots
These were not young men or women, sitting in their over-heated living rooms in Colorado flicking between TV Channels while reaching for Krustie-burgers, drinking Duff beer and considering the entrapping & then eating of Carnivorous Tree Oktopodia (“Octopi” in that quaint North-American usage)
They were fighting for their Country in a very, very frightening situation – at any moment, they could have been killed either instantly/painlessly or slowly & painfully if their aircraft were brought down flaming to the Earth
Shakespeare would of course have effortlessly & instantly expressed himself with far more elegance – Winston Churchill would have spoken with eloquent phrases, bearing in mind the future of the British Empire & how History would view him
but these boys were not composing Blogs at relative leisure – they had to make life & death decisions instantly both for themselves & those around them in an extremely unpleasant & unnatural situation
As an Englishman, I am sorry they killed & wounded British soldiers. This could have included Master Junior Eagle, if the Good Lord had not saved him from joining Her Majesty’s Army
However, these brave young pilots are sorry as well – they did not mean to do all this – entirely to their credit, their remorse is obvious & overwhelming, even if spoken in somewhat infelicitous terms
All of us would be well-advised to bear all this in mind before we rush into harsh judgement
Of course, whether we should have invaded Iraq is another question … but let us not forget that Mr Hussein was an unpleasant man, running a regime that seems to have been killing thousands of his fellow-countrymen
Your obedient servant etc
G E
M. Eagle,
I appreciate your sentiments, but in this particular case I beg to differ. I’d read some of the details back when this case happened. The pilots clearly failed to follow basic rules of engagement. They were not illuminated by a threat radar. They had no clear idea that there was any contact with an enemy force. They had no clear indication that they were under any fire. I agree that they may well have not seen the ID panels on the vehicles and, in cases like that, you don’t go down and fly over to look for them for obvious reasons. But they failed to follow the most basic rule – if you can’t positively ID your target, you back off until you can. They had no tasking order or call from a forward air controller that would have painted the ground force as enemy. They had no indication that the force was engaging friendly troops.
In short, you had a trigger-happy element leader who wanted another silhouette painted on his aircraft. And it pains me to learn that, despite what I’d read last year, that the element leader is back in service and as a tactics instructor to boot. What he did was way stupid. It wasn’t a snap-shoot-or-die situation. He was just plain trigger-happy.
Dear Future Frontier Editor
As usual when I am in disagreement wth you (or Monsieur Metro), I emerge much better informed
Kind regards
Yr obedt servt
G E
M. Eagle,
Please accept my condolences for the death of a British soldier as well. It really does make me ashamed that some light colonel trolling for an Air Medal let himself commit what was at best manslaughter and at worst careless homicide. It happens in every military force at one time or another, but that makes it all the more inexcusable.
Dear FFE
Thank you for your condolences
Yours ever
GE