The US Air Force dropped charges of negligent homicide Friday against the pilot of a military jet that landed short of the runway at an airbase in Kuwait a year ago, killing three passengers and seriously injuring seven others.
Captain Darron Haughn still faces punishment under the military code of justice but will be spared court martial on charges of dereliction of duty and negligent homicide, the Air Force said in a statement.
"Under Article 15, Captain Haughn could be formally reprimanded, arrested in quarters for 30 days, restricted to the base for 60 days, forfeit half a month's pay per month for two months, or he could receive a combination of these," the statement continued.
The C-130 plane, carrying 94 people, landed short of the runway December 10, 1999, at Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait, smashing its landing gear and fuselage before the crew managed to get the aircraft airborne.
It finally made an emergency landing without landing gear at Kuwait International Airport.
An investigation found the crew was disoriented by heavy fog, which made landing more difficult, and failed to realize that the aircraft was descending at too steep a rate.
The investigation blamed crew complacency and a failure to follow directives for the crash, faulting the pilot in particular for a lack of discipline and leadership.
The crew's first mistake was to attempt an unauthorized instrument landing, but then compounded the error by failing to get a weather report and to monitor their instruments during the descent, the investigation found -- WASHINGTON (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
