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

DATE: SATURDAY, December 31, 1994                   TAG: 9501030045
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post and The Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

PILOT RETURNS HOME AMID QUESTIONS ABOUT INCIDENT

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall returned to the United States on Friday for a happy New Year's reunion with his family in Florida, but many questions about the downing of his helicopter and the death of his co-pilot remain unanswered.

A senior Pentagon official said Hall was not tortured or abused, and confirmed that Hall signed a purported ``confession'' distributed this week by the North Koreans.

But he said military authorities still do not know why the OH-58A Kiowa helicopter flown by Hall and Warrant Officer Michael Hilemon strayed across the demilitarized zone into North Korea on Dec. 17, what killed Hilemon, how Hall was captured or where he was held.

Hall, in his first debriefing by U.S. officials since being freed, said his helicopter was hit by North Korean air defenses after he strayed across the border, forcing him into an emergency landing.

Hall reported that after he brought the chopper to the ground, he pulled his gravely wounded co-pilot from the aircraft, according to a U.S. government official who spoke Friday on condition he not be identified.

Hall told officials that Hilemon died a short time later.

The pilot's remarks, as related by the U.S. government official, made clear that Hall heard or saw an airburst or explosion on Hilemon's side of the helicopter while still in the air - apparently from anti-aircraft artillery fire or a surface-to-air missile. The engine of his small scout helicopter then went dead, and he steered the aircraft to the ground without crashing.

Hall, thinking he was over South Korea, apparently did not realize at the time that his helicopter had been hit and that Hilemon apparently was wounded, the official said. Hall was not injured.

The exact cause of Hilemon's death remained uncertain, the U.S. official said, but it appeared from Hall's description that he was killed either from the artillery or missile explosion or from those injuries combined with a hard landing.

Gen. Gary Luck, commander of U.S. forces in Korea, has assigned Brig. Gen. Robert B. Flowers, assistant commander of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division in Korea, to conduct a full inquiry into the incident, the senior official said at a Pentagon briefing.

The helicopter ``quit flying on him,'' but its rotor blade was still turning as it descended, the official said. The helicopter apparently was intact when it landed but then caught fire, the Pentagon official said.

Hall landed back home in Florida on Friday night while jubilant residents decked his hometown, Brooksville, Fla., with yellow ribbons and ``Welcome Home, Bobby!'' signs.

The 28-year-old Hall's family joined him on the plane at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa before he emerged onto the tarmac to the cheers of the crowd gathered to greet him.

``It's great to be back home. I'm looking forward to some family time and hope to get back to my unit and back to flying,'' Hall said as his voice broke and tears filled his eyes.

by CNB