A chain of events : the government cover-up of the Black Hawk Incident and the friendly fire death of Lt. Laura Piper / Joan L. Piper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Piper, Joan L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Black Hawk Friendly Fire Incident, Iraq, 1994.

Friendly fire (Military science)--Iraq.

Friendly fire (Military science).

Aerial reconnaissance, American.

Iraq.

Aerial reconnaissance, American--Iraq.

Black Hawk (Military transport helicopter)--Accidents--United States--Investigation.

Black Hawk (Military transport helicopter).

Black Hawk (Military transport helicopter)--Accidents.

United States.

Physical Description:

ix, 282 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Brassey's, [2000]

Summary:

On April 14, 1994, on a sky clear morning over the northern Iraq no-fly zone, two U.S. Air Force F-15 jets encountered two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters on a routine mission. Within ten minutes, the F-15s misidentified the helicopters and shot them down with fire-and-forget missiles. For three years, aircraft had patrolled these skies with a near-perfect safety record. Although the Black Hawk downing was one of the worst air-to-air friendly five incidents involving U.S. aircraft in military history, the Air Force would officially conclude the pilots had made a reasonable mistake.

One victim was ebullient twenty-five-old intelligence officer Laura Piper, in love with life and with being an Air Force lieutenant. Movingly written by her mother. A Chain of Events is the story of Laura's final flight and the Air Force's mishandling of the subsequent investigation. It is a story of duty, patriotism, a mother's devotion to a daughter's memory, and her family's disappointment in a beloved institution.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-276) and index.

ISBN:

1574882317

OCLC:

43403643