Anti-aircraft fire blamed for Iraq plane downing: report (RAF C-130)

[Barrett808]

Insurgents armed with basic anti-aircraft weapons likely shot down a British military plane in Iraq earlier this year, killing all 10 servicemen on board, a British newspaper has reported.

An interim report into the cause of Britain's biggest single-day loss of life in the Iraq campaign had ruled out almost everything apart from enemy fire and it was suggested that a missile or rocket propelled grenade could have brought the Royal Air Force (RAF) craft down.

A military official, however, told the Daily Telegraph that the report concluded that the C-130 Hercules had been shot down by anti-aircraft rounds, as it flew at a low altitude, possibly 46 metres.

"It was shredded by a multi-barrelled 20mm canon. They have worked out that's what caused the crash," the anonymous official was quoted as saying in the newspaper.

(more)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1370123.htm

[lenidog]

1. Planes can get shot down by flak especially if they are lumbering,

large and slow prop driven planes like the C-130