
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 1, 1991                   TAG: 9102010582
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. PLANE CARRYING 14 SHOT DOWN

Pentagon sources said Thursday that another U.S. military aircraft had been lost in the gulf war. Its crew of 14 was reported downed behind Iraqi lines.

Members of Congress, who spoke on condition they not be identified, said after briefings from Pentagon officials that the aircraft was a modified version of the C-130 equipped with small cannons and machine guns. It carried 14 people, they reportedly were told.

The aircraft went down over Kuwait, the lawmakers said.

A Pentagon source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, would not say whether the plane was downed over Iraq or Kuwait.

The lawmakers said the plane, capable of flying at low altitudes and destroying bunkers and gasoline trucks with heavy firepower, was part of a mission under Special Operations forces.

Such a plane normally carries a crew of five officers and nine enlisted personnel.

Skip Toler of Columbia, S.C., said his brother-in-law, Capt. Dixon Lee Walters, 30, was reported missing in action Thursday by the Pentagon.

The Pentagon reported that Walters' plane had been shot down behind enemy lines, Toler said.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Pete Williams announced to reporters that the Defense Department will not discuss any reports of missing aircraft in order to allow time for a search-and-rescue mission.

Williams pledged that information about downed aircraft will be released after the rescue mission is given up or when the crew of a plane has been recovered.

Since the war began Jan. 16, the allied forces have lost 19 aircraft. In the past five days, one has been lost. Twelve of the 19 are U.S. planes.

Meanwhile, a new concern has arisen among U.S. commanders in Saudi Arabia: that Iraqi troops are equipped with night-vision equipment.

Early intelligence assessments were that allied forces would essentially own the nighttime hours of the war because of their superior ability to see targets and move troops and armor.

But it now is evident that the Iraqis have their own night-vision equipment, although not as much or as high-quality as that of U.S. forces, said the source, speaking only on condition of anonymity.

It is believed the Iraqi equipment came from European suppliers, the source said.

by CNB