Video shows UK convoy fired by US pilots accidentally in Iraq

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Source: CCTV.com | 02-07-2007 14:30

A British newspaper claims to have a cockpit video that supposedly shows American pilots accidentally targeting British troops during the Iraq war. A British coroner, looking into the death of Lance Corporal Matty Hull, now wants the Pentagon to hand over the tape.

The video tape shows the pilots realizing they have hit a convoy of British armored vehicles.

The recording shows how, before firing, the pilots discuss whether they can see orange panels on top of the armored vehicles. Orange panels were designed to show that a convoy is friendly. They conclude the orange objects are rocket launchers and attack the convoy.

Lance Corporal Matty Hull was killed near the southern Iraqi city of Basra in March 2003, when two US A-10 tankbusters fired twice on the British convoy.

Colonel Bob Stewart, former UK army commander, said, "Something's gone wrong in identifying the target. Popov 35 and Popov 36, the two A-10 tankbusters are in the air and their controller might well be talking about a different area to the one that the pilots are looking at, and that is a crucial mistake and that crucial mistake probably resulted in the end in the death of Matty Hull."

An inquest into Hull's death was adjourned last week, after the coroner said he had to delay his verdict until the recording was produced by Britain's Ministry of Defense. The ministry said it did not have the right to release the video without the permission of the US government.