By Fred Burton
On Aug. 17, 1988, the Pakistani presidential aircraft, code-named PAK-1, plummeted out of the heaven into a dusty champaign exterior Bahawalpur inwards southeastern Pakistan. Within a affair of hours, I constitute myself overlooking the still-smoking crater that the C-130 Hercules aircraft had dug into the world inwards a part close the Pakistani edge alongside India. The investigation that followed, long earlier the days of instant cyberspace in addition to cellular telephone communications, may accept been the most complex I'd always worked inwards my career equally a special agent for the U.S. State Department. When I closed my eyes today, I tin privy all the same moving-picture present the crash site. The plane had been carrying Pakistani President Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq along alongside several other dignitaries, including members of the Pakistani articulation chiefs of staff, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Herbert Wassom in addition to Arnie Raphel, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan. Raphel, similar every other soul aboard, had died. The State Department had a vested involvement inwards figuring out why.
As a full general rule, complex international cases are hard to solve, in addition to zilch virtually the procedure of investigating them always seemed to live on straightforward. This was particularly truthful inwards this crash investigation, where a confluence of suspects in addition to a dearth of data made an already challenging labor that much to a greater extent than difficult.
At the fourth dimension of the crash, Zia in addition to the American brass were returning to Islamabad after witnessing a demonstration of a U.S. military machine tank. The president was a closed ally of the United States in addition to had spearheaded the covert U.S. state of war against the Soviets inwards Afghanistan, earning the enmity of the Kremlin in addition to of its Soviet clients inwards Kabul. Zia, an regular army full general who had come upward to mightiness inwards a military machine coup xiii years before, had farther alienated his domestic opponents inwards a force to consolidate his friction match on mightiness inwards Pakistan, which he was running equally a virtual one-man show. And to top it all off, tensions betwixt nuclear-armed Islamic Republic of Pakistan in addition to India, equally they frequently do, had been running high. The mysterious crash had alone added to their frictions. Amid these conditions, investigators from the U.S. in addition to Islamic Republic of Pakistan joined together to response the question: Why did PAK-1 crash? Was it an accident? Was it brought downward yesteryear sabotage? Did an exterior mightiness adjust for or participate guide inwards its demise? There was no shortage of possibilities, in addition to nosotros had a large labor ahead of us.
Heading to the Scene
Soon after I was informed virtually the disaster, I constitute myself aboard an executive jet on a U.S. Air Force Special Air Mission along alongside a colleague from the State Department's counterterrorism branch. I had been on the labor equally a special agent for alone 3 years but had already seen my part of mayhem. However, I had experienced zilch on the scale of a crash of a giant cargo plane similar the Hercules. After nosotros arrived inwards Germany, nosotros were joined yesteryear a U.S. Air Force Accident Mishap Team, boarded a C-5A Milky Way in addition to landed inwards the pump of the dark at Chakala Air Force Base inwards Islamabad. From there, nosotros attended tense meetings alongside the Pakistani military, which similar many other militaries was riven yesteryear interservice rivalries (Zia was army, in addition to the plane's pilots were air force). We also met alongside officials at the U.S. Embassy.
The squad hence pushed on via a C-130 Hercules (like the 1 that had crashed) to the Pakistani military machine base of operations at Bahawalpur. From there, our convoy of heavily guarded Land Cruisers sped through dusty villages to a military machine outpost a few miles from the crash site where nosotros laid our base of operations camp. We would pass the adjacent few days trying to pose the pieces of the puzzle together equally best nosotros could.
I all the same recollect arriving for the showtime fourth dimension at the isolated crash site, where dust devils swirled inwards the boom furnace heat. There was no sign of dwelling solid anywhere. The Pakistani military machine had laid a buffet describe virtually 25 yards from the smoking dark hole inwards the ground, but none of us could eat. At showtime glance, it appeared equally if the wings of the Vietnam-era aircraft had broken off on impact, in addition to from the outline of the deport on zone, the plane had probable hitting the footing at a 60- to 65-degree angle. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 give the sack that followed had consumed almost all the debris except for a few smaller pieces of fuselage that had been scattered at impact. I tin privy recall someone from the bottom of the crash pit handing me a badly burned dark wallet.
Examining the Pieces
The investigation progressed. Hours turned into days equally nosotros struggled to honour firsthand accounts of the events that led to the crash. Luckily, nosotros met a shepherd who had seen the aircraft become down. During our interview alongside him, his gestures indicated that the aircraft had been gyrating upward in addition to downward similar a roller coaster earlier impact.
From his job organisation human relationship in addition to other data nosotros gleaned, nosotros were able to pose together this sequence of events:
Three minutes after it took off, PAK-1 lost control.
For 2 to a greater extent than minutes, the aircraft followed an erratic path through the air.
During that time, the pilots failed to number a mayday or laid off whatsoever emergency alerts, a fundamental clue to what was going on inside.
Just earlier the plane hitting the ground, somebody exterior the flying deck shouted for the airplane pilot in addition to an unknown soul managed to fundamental the plane's radio, but neither airplane pilot spoke. It was equally if they were incapacitated.
The written report issued yesteryear Pakistani investigators concluded that the crash was the number of sabotage or a criminal deed but stopped brusque of assigning culpability to whatsoever specific grouping or country.
Further investigation ruled out some possible causes: Neither weather, catastrophic mechanical failure nor airplane pilot mistake led to the crash. Based on autopsy reports, nosotros were able to hit upward one's heed at that topographic point had non been a give the sack onboard earlier the plane hitting the ground. The investigation squad did the best labor that nosotros could. As I wrote inwards my memoir, Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent, the written report issued yesteryear Pakistani investigators concluded that the crash was the number of sabotage or a criminal deed but stopped brusque of assigning culpability to whatsoever specific grouping or country. In the absence of a definite suspect, a number of wild theories accept been advanced over the years virtually what brought the plane down. Among them: a bomb secreted inwards a crate of mangoes loaded on the plane at the final infinitesimal exploded; a canister of nervus gas hidden inwards the cockpit was triggered remotely, killing the pilots; or fifty-fifty that a Soviet satellite had struck PAK-1 alongside an unloosen energy weapon, causing it to autumn from the sky. I accept my ain ideas of what happened, tied inwards alongside the geopolitics of the era.
The Scene Behind the Scenes
A few weeks earlier the PAK-1 crash, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze had publicly stated that Islamic Republic of Pakistan would pay dearly for its back upward of the Afghan mujahideen. The Russians, equally is their wont, had a rather ruthless means of settling scores, a practice they move on to follow today. Given the somewhat lackadaisical safety roughly PAK-1 equally it sat on the tarmac inwards Bahawalpur, an agent working for Moscow would accept had the chance to board the aircraft in addition to laid it upward to crash.
A few weeks after nosotros returned from the crash site, I'd learned that nosotros had been dispatched to purchase fourth dimension for diplomats to defuse the unusual policy mess that Shevardnadze's comments had created, summation give them a run a hazard to remain the enflamed tensions betwixt Islamic Republic of Pakistan in addition to India. When deciding who would participate on the U.S. investigative team, the powers that live on inwards Washington purposefully left the FBI out of the loop. They thought that an FBI presence would signal to the world that Washington suspected the plane had been brought downward yesteryear sabotage or terrorism. But, C-130s merely don't autumn from the sky.
No affair what caused PAK-1 to become downward that day, I tin privy alone imagine how horrible the final 2 minutes aboard that aircraft were for its passengers. That thought continues to haunt me, fifty-fifty xxx years later.Pakistani President Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq along alongside several other dignitaries, including members of the Pakistani articulation chiefs of staff, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Herbert Wassom in addition to Arnie Raphel, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan. Raphel, similar every other soul aboard, had died. The State Department had a vested involvement inwards figuring out why.
As a full general rule, complex international cases are hard to solve, in addition to zilch virtually the procedure of investigating them always seemed to live on straightforward. This was particularly truthful inwards this crash investigation, where a confluence of suspects in addition to a dearth of data made an already challenging labor that much to a greater extent than difficult.
At the fourth dimension of the crash, Zia in addition to the American brass were returning to Islamabad after witnessing a demonstration of a U.S. military machine tank. The president was a closed ally of the United States in addition to had spearheaded the covert U.S. state of war against the Soviets inwards Afghanistan, earning the enmity of the Kremlin in addition to of its Soviet clients inwards Kabul. Zia, an regular army full general who had come upward to mightiness inwards a military machine coup xiii years before, had farther alienated his domestic opponents inwards a force to consolidate his friction match on mightiness inwards Pakistan, which he was running equally a virtual one-man show. And to top it all off, tensions betwixt nuclear-armed Islamic Republic of Pakistan in addition to India, equally they frequently do, had been running high. The mysterious crash had alone added to their frictions. Amid these conditions, investigators from the U.S. in addition to Islamic Republic of Pakistan joined together to response the question: Why did PAK-1 crash? Was it an accident? Was it brought downward yesteryear sabotage? Did an exterior mightiness adjust for or participate guide inwards its demise? There was no shortage of possibilities, in addition to nosotros had a large labor ahead of us.
Heading to the Scene
Soon after I was informed virtually the disaster, I constitute myself aboard an executive jet on a U.S. Air Force Special Air Mission along alongside a colleague from the State Department's counterterrorism branch. I had been on the labor equally a special agent for alone 3 years but had already seen my part of mayhem. However, I had experienced zilch on the scale of a crash of a giant cargo plane similar the Hercules. After nosotros arrived inwards Germany, nosotros were joined yesteryear a U.S. Air Force Accident Mishap Team, boarded a C-5A Milky Way in addition to landed inwards the pump of the dark at Chakala Air Force Base inwards Islamabad. From there, nosotros attended tense meetings alongside the Pakistani military, which similar many other militaries was riven yesteryear interservice rivalries (Zia was army, in addition to the plane's pilots were air force). We also met alongside officials at the U.S. Embassy.
The squad hence pushed on via a C-130 Hercules (like the 1 that had crashed) to the Pakistani military machine base of operations at Bahawalpur. From there, our convoy of heavily guarded Land Cruisers sped through dusty villages to a military machine outpost a few miles from the crash site where nosotros laid our base of operations camp. We would pass the adjacent few days trying to pose the pieces of the puzzle together equally best nosotros could.
I all the same recollect arriving for the showtime fourth dimension at the isolated crash site, where dust devils swirled inwards the boom furnace heat. There was no sign of dwelling solid anywhere. The Pakistani military machine had laid a buffet describe virtually 25 yards from the smoking dark hole inwards the ground, but none of us could eat. At showtime glance, it appeared equally if the wings of the Vietnam-era aircraft had broken off on impact, in addition to from the outline of the deport on zone, the plane had probable hitting the footing at a 60- to 65-degree angle. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 give the sack that followed had consumed almost all the debris except for a few smaller pieces of fuselage that had been scattered at impact. I tin privy recall someone from the bottom of the crash pit handing me a badly burned dark wallet.
Examining the Pieces
The investigation progressed. Hours turned into days equally nosotros struggled to honour firsthand accounts of the events that led to the crash. Luckily, nosotros met a shepherd who had seen the aircraft become down. During our interview alongside him, his gestures indicated that the aircraft had been gyrating upward in addition to downward similar a roller coaster earlier impact.
From his job organisation human relationship in addition to other data nosotros gleaned, nosotros were able to pose together this sequence of events:
Three minutes after it took off, PAK-1 lost control.
For 2 to a greater extent than minutes, the aircraft followed an erratic path through the air.
During that time, the pilots failed to number a mayday or laid off whatsoever emergency alerts, a fundamental clue to what was going on inside.
Just earlier the plane hitting the ground, somebody exterior the flying deck shouted for the airplane pilot in addition to an unknown soul managed to fundamental the plane's radio, but neither airplane pilot spoke. It was equally if they were incapacitated.
The written report issued yesteryear Pakistani investigators concluded that the crash was the number of sabotage or a criminal deed but stopped brusque of assigning culpability to whatsoever specific grouping or country.
Further investigation ruled out some possible causes: Neither weather, catastrophic mechanical failure nor airplane pilot mistake led to the crash. Based on autopsy reports, nosotros were able to hit upward one's heed at that topographic point had non been a give the sack onboard earlier the plane hitting the ground. The investigation squad did the best labor that nosotros could. As I wrote inwards my memoir, Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent, the written report issued yesteryear Pakistani investigators concluded that the crash was the number of sabotage or a criminal deed but stopped brusque of assigning culpability to whatsoever specific grouping or country. In the absence of a definite suspect, a number of wild theories accept been advanced over the years virtually what brought the plane down. Among them: a bomb secreted inwards a crate of mangoes loaded on the plane at the final infinitesimal exploded; a canister of nervus gas hidden inwards the cockpit was triggered remotely, killing the pilots; or fifty-fifty that a Soviet satellite had struck PAK-1 alongside an unloosen energy weapon, causing it to autumn from the sky. I accept my ain ideas of what happened, tied inwards alongside the geopolitics of the era.
The Scene Behind the Scenes
A few weeks earlier the PAK-1 crash, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze had publicly stated that Islamic Republic of Pakistan would pay dearly for its back upward of the Afghan mujahideen. The Russians, equally is their wont, had a rather ruthless means of settling scores, a practice they move on to follow today. Given the somewhat lackadaisical safety roughly PAK-1 equally it sat on the tarmac inwards Bahawalpur, an agent working for Moscow would accept had the chance to board the aircraft in addition to laid it upward to crash.
A few weeks after nosotros returned from the crash site, I'd learned that nosotros had been dispatched to purchase fourth dimension for diplomats to defuse the unusual policy mess that Shevardnadze's comments had created, summation give them a run a hazard to remain the enflamed tensions betwixt Islamic Republic of Pakistan in addition to India. When deciding who would participate on the U.S. investigative team, the powers that live on inwards Washington purposefully left the FBI out of the loop. They thought that an FBI presence would signal to the world that Washington suspected the plane had been brought downward yesteryear sabotage or terrorism. But, C-130s merely don't autumn from the sky.
No affair what caused PAK-1 to become downward that day, I tin privy alone imagine how horrible the final 2 minutes aboard that aircraft were for its passengers. That thought continues to haunt me, fifty-fifty xxx years later.
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