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American Morning

Pentagon Sources Confirm U.S. Spy Plane Lost Over Iraq

Aired August 27, 2001 - 09:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are getting more information now on the pilotless plane that has been shot down over on Iraq.

For more on that, let's go to Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, Pentagon sources confirm that the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle is lost over the southern no-fly zone and may in fact have been shot down, as Iraq claimed.

Now, the small pilotless plane is long overdue. Communications with the plane has been lost. However, Pentagon officials say all manned aircraft returned safety from the no-fly-zone patrols today, including up in the north, where U.S. planes attacked an SA-3 surface- to-air missile sight in response to Iraqi ground fire.

But if in fact this unmanned aerial vehicle has been shot down, it will mark the first success that Iraq has had in trying to down a U.S. or British plane in almost 10 years of patrolling the no-fly zone. These planes, the Predator, are small planes, although they have a pretty impressive wingspan, almost 50 feet. It's about 27 feet long.

You see the plane here. It has no pilot on board. It's operated by remote control. Generally, they fly lower and slower than the jet aircraft that patrol the no-fly zones on a routine basis and, therefore, would present a more favorable target to Iraqi gunfire.

But, still, Pentagon officials cannot confirm whether it was in fact shot down. Or it may have suffered a mechanical malfunction. But at this point, they're operating under the assumption that it may have been shot down -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, Jamie, is this something that, if it was in the hands of the Iraqi, if they were able to get to the wreckage, could be valuable to them?

MCINTYRE: Well, there might be some limited value. This is not high-tech technology. It's basically a remote-controlled plane with television cameras and transmitters. This is not a classified technology that is highly secret, although there might be some intelligence value.

This would not be the first time one of these planes has crashed over in hostile territory, though. One of them crashed over Kosovo during the air war there.

KAGAN: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon -- Jamie, thank you.

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