1982 British Army Gazelle friendly fire incident
Encyclopedia
On 6 June 1982, during the Falklands War
, the British Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer engaged and destroyed a British Army Gazelle helicopter, serial number
XX377, in a friendly fire
incident, killing all four occupants. Cardiff, on the lookout for aircraft flying supplies to the Argentine forces occupying the Falkland Islands
, had misidentified the helicopter as an enemy C-130 Hercules
. Although the helicopter's loss was initially blamed on enemy action, a subsequent inquiry found Cardiffs missiles to be the cause.
On the night of 5 June, HMS Cardiff was stationed to the east of the islands to both provide gunfire support to the land forces and to intercept enemy aircraft. At around 02:00 a radar contact was detected; a British Army Air Corps Gazelle
helicopter was making a routine delivery of personnel and equipment to a radio rebroadcast station on East Falkland
. From the contact's speed and course, Cardiffs operations room crew assumed it to be hostile. Two Sea Dart
missiles were fired, destroying the target. The Gazelle's wreckage and crew were discovered the next morning, and the loss was attributed to enemy fire. Although Cardiff was suspected, later scientific tests on the wreckage proved inconclusive.
However, no formal inquiry was held until four years later. Defending their claim that the helicopter had been lost in action, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence
(MoD) stated that they had not wanted to "cause further anguish to relatives" while they were still trying to ascertain how the Gazelle had been shot down. The board of inquiry recommended that "neither negligence nor blame should be attributed to any individual", but identified a number of factors. A lack of communication between the army and the navy meant that 5th Infantry Brigade had not notified anyone of the helicopter's flight. Conversely, the navy had not informed the land forces that Cardiff had changed position to set up an ambush for Argentine aircraft travelling over the area. Furthermore, the helicopter's Identification Friend or Foe
(IFF) transmitter was turned off, because it caused interference with the army's Rapier
anti-aircraft missile system. The board of inquiry's findings have prompted criticism of the MoD's initial response to the incident.
On 2 April 1982, the disputed British overseas territory of the Falkland Islands
was invaded by neighbouring Argentina. The United Kingdom, nearly 8000 miles (12,874.7 km) away, assembled and dispatched a naval task force of 28,000 troops to recapture the islands. The conflict ended that June with the surrender of the Argentine forces
; the battles fought on land, at sea, and in the air had cost the lives of some 900 British and Argentine servicemen.
In early May, British troops landed at San Carlos
on the western side of East Falkland
, and from there moved overland towards the islands' capital of Stanley
. To support the advance, logistical supplies were ferried to the troops by helicopter from San Carlos. The Argentine forces occupying Stanley were supplied throughout the war by C-130 Hercules
aircraft from the Argentine mainland. These "milk-runs", as the British termed them, were a source of concern to the Royal Navy, and various attempts were made to intercept them.
On the night of 5 June, the British Type 42 destroyer took up station on the "Bluff Cove Gunline" to the east of the islands. Tasked with a dual mission, Cardiff was to provide fire support
to the marines of 3 Commando Brigade
, and to interdict any Argentine aircraft attempting to fly into Stanley. The destroyer had performed a similar role four nights previously, when she unsuccessfully attempted to shoot down a resupply aircraft as it landed, and again as it took off.
Meanwhile, pilots Staff Sergeant Christopher Griffin and Lance Corporal Simon Cockton, of 656 Squadron
Army Air Corps, had been ordered to fly equipment and personnel to a malfunctioning radio rebroadcast station on top of Pleasant Peak
. The station had been established the previous day to provide a communications link between the 5th Infantry Brigade headquarters at Darwin
, and the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
at Fitzroy
. Night flying conditions were excellent, with a clear sky, a prominent moon, and a wind speed of 20 kn (39.2 km/h). The crew departed from Goose Green
in Gazelle serial number
XX377 and collected the replacement equipment from the headquarters at Darwin. They also took on board two passengers; Major Michael Forge, the OC
of 205 Signal Squadron
, and one of his technicians, Staff Sergeant John Baker. Griffin was an experienced pilot; the flight to the rebroadcast station was expected to take ten minutes.
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At 02:00 local time, Cardiffs operations room detected XX377 on her surface plot radar at a range of 25 nautical miles (46.3 km). The helicopter's Identification friend or foe
(IFF) system was turned off, so receiving no friendly transmissions and with the contact apparently heading towards Stanley, the operations room crew assumed it to be hostile. After calculating its speed they believed they were tracking an Argentine fixed-wing aircraft
—either a Hercules conducting a resupply mission, or a FMA IA 58 Pucará
ground-attack aircraft sent to retaliate for Cardiffs shelling. Cardiff fired two of her Sea Dart missile
s. 5th Infantry Brigade lost radio contact with the Gazelle, and simultaneously the exploding missile warheads were seen and heard by the rebroadcast station's personnel atop Pleasant Peak. Cardiffs crew were able to see the fireball, but only with the aid of night vision goggles
.
The helicopter's loss caused the British to suspect that Argentine forces were still operating in the area, so patrols were mounted by Gurkha
soldiers. When the Gurkhas came across the personnel manning the Pleasant Peak station there was potential for another friendly fire incident to occur. At first light a proper search was carried out, and the Gazelle's wreckage was found along with the dead aircrew and passengers; 5th Infantry Brigade's first casualties of the war. Immediately there were suspicions that Cardiff had been responsible for the shootdown, and later that evening Rear Admiral "Sandy" Woodward
declared a "Weapons Tight
" order, forbidding the engagement of any aircraft not positively identified as hostile, for all contacts detected flying over East Falkland at less than 200 kn (392 km/h) and under 610 m (2,001.3 ft).
The crew's bodies were initially examined by senior medical officer, Rick Jolly
. The helicopter's wreckage was inspected on-site, but the British were unable to determine if it had been destroyed by Cardiffs missiles or by Argentine fire. This uncertainty prompted the decision not to hold a board of inquiry, and XX377 was declared "lost in action". It was surmised that, if the relatives of the deceased were told that the Gazelle may have been lost to friendly fire
, it would add to their grief. After the war, missile fragments found in the wreckage were taken to the British government's aviation research facility at RAE
Farnborough
for analysis. The scientific tests concluded that the fragments were not from a British Sea Dart missile, despite a Sea Dart casing later being found "several hundred yards" away from the wreckage.
In December 1982, an inquest was held by a Southampton
coroner into the death of Lance Corporal Cockton after his body was repatriated to the UK. Based on RAE Farnborough's test results, the Army Air Corps submitted evidence stating that the analysis of the warhead fragments found in the wreckage indicated that the helicopter had been destroyed by a type of anti-aircraft missile "known to have been in the possession of the enemy". The test results were reviewed in November 1985 and determined that there could be "no definitive conclusion as to the exact source of the missile fragments recovered from the crash site". In June 1986, John Stanley
, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces
, announced in his written answers to the House of Commons: "the [Southampton] coroner has been informed accordingly."
In October 1986, partly due to pressure from Cockton's mother and the anti-war politician Tam Dalyell
, an official board of inquiry was finally opened. The board took a month to reach the conclusion that XX377 was shot down by Cardiff. Historian Hugh Bicheno
remarks: "It took [the] MoD four years and two investigations, the first either incompetent or a deliberate cover-up, even to admit the Gazelle blue-on-blue
." The board's findings were made public by a Freedom of Information Act
request in July 2008, although paragraph 13 of the report was redacted
under section 26 of the act as it "contains operational details of the Royal Navy’s activities, which, even with the passage of time since the Falklands campaign, would be of use to potential enemies."
The board of inquiry found that standard operating procedure dictated that the commanders of 5th Infantry Brigade were not required to declare the helicopter's mission to any other authority, as the flight was to occur in brigade airspace on a brigade task. Gazelle XX377 was equipped with an IFF transmitter, but this was turned off. In the opinion of the board, "had IFF been in use there is little doubt that Cardiff would not have engaged the aircraft that night." At the time, less than half of the land force's helicopters were fitted with IFF transmitters, and those that were had been ordered not to use them because they inhibited the tracking systems of the British ground-based Rapier
anti-aircraft missile batteries. A misconception about the Royal Navy's ability to engage air targets over land led to the navy not being informed that the army's helicopters were not using IFF. The board of inquiry concluded that it was this failure to communicate, together with the navy's assumption that all helicopters would be operating IFF, which "had a cumulative effect [and] was a major cause of [the] accident." However, the board recommended that "neither negligence nor blame should be attributed to any individual".
s for coastal defence, the board of inquiry recommended an amendment to NATO procedures for amphibious warfare
and naval gunfire support
, to alert other armed forces to the danger of underestimating a ship's missile engagement zone over land. During the late 1980s, the British government placed more emphasis on joint warfare
training, with exercises, such as Purple Warrior, taking place in Oman
and Scotland. The board noted the establishment of the Permanent Joint Headquarters
, designed to put an end to the "ad hoc and reactive way" in which operations had been carried out while under single service control. IFF transmitters were fitted to all Army Air Corps and Royal Marine Gazelle and Lynx
helicopters, and the problem of operating IFF in the vicinity of Rapier
batteries has been successfully addressed. The board supported a recommendation that the responsibilities of naval gunfire-support liaison officers could be broadened to include the interpretation of air defence problems during inshore joint warfare operations.
A memorial cross was installed atop Pleasant Peak, and the number "205" was painted at the crash site by the soldiers of 205 Signal Squadron. The number is approximately 40 m (131.2 ft) wide and can be seen from the air (51.783600°N 58.467786°W).
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, the British Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer engaged and destroyed a British Army Gazelle helicopter, serial number
United Kingdom military aircraft serials
In the United Kingdom to identify individual aircraft, all military aircraft are allocated and display a unique serial number. A unified serial number system, maintained by the Air Ministry , and its successor the Ministry of Defence , is used for aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force , Fleet...
XX377, in a friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
incident, killing all four occupants. Cardiff, on the lookout for aircraft flying supplies to the Argentine forces occupying the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, had misidentified the helicopter as an enemy C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
. Although the helicopter's loss was initially blamed on enemy action, a subsequent inquiry found Cardiffs missiles to be the cause.
On the night of 5 June, HMS Cardiff was stationed to the east of the islands to both provide gunfire support to the land forces and to intercept enemy aircraft. At around 02:00 a radar contact was detected; a British Army Air Corps Gazelle
Aérospatiale Gazelle
The Aérospatiale Gazelle is a five-seat light helicopter, powered by a single turbine engine. It was designed and manufactured in France by Sud Aviation . It was also manufactured under licence by Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom , by SOKO in Yugoslavia and ABHCO in Egypt...
helicopter was making a routine delivery of personnel and equipment to a radio rebroadcast station on East Falkland
East Falkland
East Falkland the largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, has an area of and a coastline long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island...
. From the contact's speed and course, Cardiffs operations room crew assumed it to be hostile. Two Sea Dart
Sea Dart missile
Sea Dart or Guided Weapon System 30 is a British surface-to-air missile system designed by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and built by British Aerospace from 1977...
missiles were fired, destroying the target. The Gazelle's wreckage and crew were discovered the next morning, and the loss was attributed to enemy fire. Although Cardiff was suspected, later scientific tests on the wreckage proved inconclusive.
However, no formal inquiry was held until four years later. Defending their claim that the helicopter had been lost in action, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
(MoD) stated that they had not wanted to "cause further anguish to relatives" while they were still trying to ascertain how the Gazelle had been shot down. The board of inquiry recommended that "neither negligence nor blame should be attributed to any individual", but identified a number of factors. A lack of communication between the army and the navy meant that 5th Infantry Brigade had not notified anyone of the helicopter's flight. Conversely, the navy had not informed the land forces that Cardiff had changed position to set up an ambush for Argentine aircraft travelling over the area. Furthermore, the helicopter's Identification Friend or Foe
Identification friend or foe
In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe is an identification system designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military and national interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles, or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the...
(IFF) transmitter was turned off, because it caused interference with the army's Rapier
Rapier missile
Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile developed for the British Army and Royal Air Force. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other anti-aircraft weapons in Army service; guns for low-altitude targets, and the English Electric Thunderbird, used against longer-range and...
anti-aircraft missile system. The board of inquiry's findings have prompted criticism of the MoD's initial response to the incident.
Background
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
was invaded by neighbouring Argentina. The United Kingdom, nearly 8000 miles (12,874.7 km) away, assembled and dispatched a naval task force of 28,000 troops to recapture the islands. The conflict ended that June with the surrender of the Argentine forces
Falklands War Argentine surrender
The last stage of the Falklands War was the surrender of the Argentine Governor at Port Stanley.-Background:With the last natural defence line at Mount Tumbledown breached, the Argentine town defences of Port Stanley began to falter. In the morning gloom, one company commander got lost and his...
; the battles fought on land, at sea, and in the air had cost the lives of some 900 British and Argentine servicemen.
In early May, British troops landed at San Carlos
San Carlos, Falkland Islands
San Carlos is a settlement in northwestern East Falkland, lying south of Port San Carlos on San Carlos Water. It is sometimes nicknamed "JB" after a former owner, Jack Bonner.-History:...
on the western side of East Falkland
East Falkland
East Falkland the largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, has an area of and a coastline long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island...
, and from there moved overland towards the islands' capital of Stanley
Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...
. To support the advance, logistical supplies were ferried to the troops by helicopter from San Carlos. The Argentine forces occupying Stanley were supplied throughout the war by C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
aircraft from the Argentine mainland. These "milk-runs", as the British termed them, were a source of concern to the Royal Navy, and various attempts were made to intercept them.
Incident
Naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...
to the marines of 3 Commando Brigade
3 Commando Brigade
3 Commando Brigade is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces and the main manoeuvre formation of the Royal Marines. Its personnel are predominantly Royal Marines, supported by units of Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, The Rifles, and the Fleet Air Arm, together with other Commando...
, and to interdict any Argentine aircraft attempting to fly into Stanley. The destroyer had performed a similar role four nights previously, when she unsuccessfully attempted to shoot down a resupply aircraft as it landed, and again as it took off.
Meanwhile, pilots Staff Sergeant Christopher Griffin and Lance Corporal Simon Cockton, of 656 Squadron
No. 656 Squadron AAC
656 Squadron is a unit of the British Army Air Corps. It was chosen as one of the AAC new Apache Squadrons and in April 2004 started its conversion to role. The first phase of this completed in October 2004...
Army Air Corps, had been ordered to fly equipment and personnel to a malfunctioning radio rebroadcast station on top of Pleasant Peak
Pleasant Peak
Pleasant Peak is a location on the Falkland Islands, East Falkland, two miles North of RAF Mount Pleasant.It was the site of the 1982 British Army Gazelle friendly fire incident....
. The station had been established the previous day to provide a communications link between the 5th Infantry Brigade headquarters at Darwin
Darwin, Falkland Islands
Darwin is a settlement in Lafonia on East Falkland, lying on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, north of Goose Green...
, and the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
The Second Battalion, The Parachute Regiment is a battalion-sized formation of the British Army's Parachute Regiment and subordinate unit within 16th Air Assault Brigade whose Commanding Officer was Lieutenant Colonel Joseph O'Sullivan....
at Fitzroy
Fitzroy, Falkland Islands
Fitzroy is a settlement on East Falkland. It is divided into Fitzroy North and Fitzroy South.It is named after Robert FitzRoy who sailed with Charles Darwin on HMS Beagle, andis on the inlet known as Port Pleasant....
. Night flying conditions were excellent, with a clear sky, a prominent moon, and a wind speed of 20 kn (39.2 km/h). The crew departed from Goose Green
Goose Green
Goose Green is a settlement in Lafonia on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It lies on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, south-southwest of Darwin. With a population of about 70, it is the second largest settlement of the Falkland Islands.Goose Green has a shop...
in Gazelle serial number
United Kingdom military aircraft serials
In the United Kingdom to identify individual aircraft, all military aircraft are allocated and display a unique serial number. A unified serial number system, maintained by the Air Ministry , and its successor the Ministry of Defence , is used for aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force , Fleet...
XX377 and collected the replacement equipment from the headquarters at Darwin. They also took on board two passengers; Major Michael Forge, the OC
Officer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
of 205 Signal Squadron
205 Signal Squadron
205 Signal Squadron was a unit of the Royal Corps of Signals of the British Army. After two of their members were killed in an Army Air Corps Gazelle helicopter due to a friendly fire incident with HMS Cardiff during the Falklands War, the numbers "205" were painted at the crash site as a memorial ....
, and one of his technicians, Staff Sergeant John Baker. Griffin was an experienced pilot; the flight to the rebroadcast station was expected to take ten minutes.
Identification friend or foe
In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe is an identification system designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military and national interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles, or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the...
(IFF) system was turned off, so receiving no friendly transmissions and with the contact apparently heading towards Stanley, the operations room crew assumed it to be hostile. After calculating its speed they believed they were tracking an Argentine fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
—either a Hercules conducting a resupply mission, or a FMA IA 58 Pucará
FMA IA 58 Pucará
The FMA IA 58 Pucará is an Argentine ground-attack and counter-insurgency aircraft. It is a low-wing two-turboprop-engined all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, manufactured by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones.-Development:...
ground-attack aircraft sent to retaliate for Cardiffs shelling. Cardiff fired two of her Sea Dart missile
Sea Dart missile
Sea Dart or Guided Weapon System 30 is a British surface-to-air missile system designed by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and built by British Aerospace from 1977...
s. 5th Infantry Brigade lost radio contact with the Gazelle, and simultaneously the exploding missile warheads were seen and heard by the rebroadcast station's personnel atop Pleasant Peak. Cardiffs crew were able to see the fireball, but only with the aid of night vision goggles
Night vision goggles
A night vision device is an optical instrument that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness. They are most often used by the military and law enforcement agencies, but are available to civilian users...
.
The helicopter's loss caused the British to suspect that Argentine forces were still operating in the area, so patrols were mounted by Gurkha
Brigade of Gurkhas
The Brigade of Gurkhas is the collective term for units of the current British Army that are composed of Nepalese soldiers. The brigade, which is 3,640 strong, draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army prior to Indian independence, and prior to that of...
soldiers. When the Gurkhas came across the personnel manning the Pleasant Peak station there was potential for another friendly fire incident to occur. At first light a proper search was carried out, and the Gazelle's wreckage was found along with the dead aircrew and passengers; 5th Infantry Brigade's first casualties of the war. Immediately there were suspicions that Cardiff had been responsible for the shootdown, and later that evening Rear Admiral "Sandy" Woodward
Sandy Woodward
Admiral Sir John Forster "Sandy" Woodward GBE, KCB is a British Admiral who commanded the British Naval Force in the South Atlantic during the Falklands War.-Naval career:...
declared a "Weapons Tight
Weapons Tight
Weapons Tight is a NATO brevity code "weapon control order" used in anti-aircraft warfare, imposing a status whereby weapons systems may only be fired at targets confirmed as hostile.Compare to Weapons Free and Weapons Hold....
" order, forbidding the engagement of any aircraft not positively identified as hostile, for all contacts detected flying over East Falkland at less than 200 kn (392 km/h) and under 610 m (2,001.3 ft).
Investigations
Rick Jolly
Surgeon-Captain Richard Jolly OBE is a former Royal Navy medical officer who served in the 1982 Falklands War. He still practices and gives lectures to medical establishments on his experiences....
. The helicopter's wreckage was inspected on-site, but the British were unable to determine if it had been destroyed by Cardiffs missiles or by Argentine fire. This uncertainty prompted the decision not to hold a board of inquiry, and XX377 was declared "lost in action". It was surmised that, if the relatives of the deceased were told that the Gazelle may have been lost to friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
, it would add to their grief. After the war, missile fragments found in the wreckage were taken to the British government's aviation research facility at RAE
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
Farnborough
Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...
for analysis. The scientific tests concluded that the fragments were not from a British Sea Dart missile, despite a Sea Dart casing later being found "several hundred yards" away from the wreckage.
In December 1982, an inquest was held by a Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
coroner into the death of Lance Corporal Cockton after his body was repatriated to the UK. Based on RAE Farnborough's test results, the Army Air Corps submitted evidence stating that the analysis of the warhead fragments found in the wreckage indicated that the helicopter had been destroyed by a type of anti-aircraft missile "known to have been in the possession of the enemy". The test results were reviewed in November 1985 and determined that there could be "no definitive conclusion as to the exact source of the missile fragments recovered from the crash site". In June 1986, John Stanley
John Stanley (politician)
Sir John Paul Stanley PC is a British Conservative Party politician, and the Member of Parliament for Tonbridge and Malling.-Education:...
, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
The Minister of State for the Armed Forces is a middle-ranking ministerial position, subordinate only to the Secretary of State for Defence, at the Ministry of Defence in Her Majesty's Government....
, announced in his written answers to the House of Commons: "the [Southampton] coroner has been informed accordingly."
Tam Dalyell
Sir Thomas Dalyell Loch, 11th Baronet , known as Tam Dalyell, is a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005, first for West Lothian and then for Linlithgow.-Early life:...
, an official board of inquiry was finally opened. The board took a month to reach the conclusion that XX377 was shot down by Cardiff. Historian Hugh Bicheno
Hugh Bicheno
Hugh Bicheno is a living British-American military historian most famous for his revisionist interpretations of the American Revolution in his acclaimed publication Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolutionary War and of the Falklands War in his best-selling Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History...
remarks: "It took [the] MoD four years and two investigations, the first either incompetent or a deliberate cover-up, even to admit the Gazelle blue-on-blue
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
." The board's findings were made public by a Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...
request in July 2008, although paragraph 13 of the report was redacted
Sanitization (classified information)
Sanitization is the process of removing sensitive information from a document or other medium, so that it may be distributed to a broader audience. When dealing with classified information, sanitization attempts to reduce the document's classification level, possibly yielding an unclassified...
under section 26 of the act as it "contains operational details of the Royal Navy’s activities, which, even with the passage of time since the Falklands campaign, would be of use to potential enemies."
The board of inquiry found that standard operating procedure dictated that the commanders of 5th Infantry Brigade were not required to declare the helicopter's mission to any other authority, as the flight was to occur in brigade airspace on a brigade task. Gazelle XX377 was equipped with an IFF transmitter, but this was turned off. In the opinion of the board, "had IFF been in use there is little doubt that Cardiff would not have engaged the aircraft that night." At the time, less than half of the land force's helicopters were fitted with IFF transmitters, and those that were had been ordered not to use them because they inhibited the tracking systems of the British ground-based Rapier
Rapier missile
Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile developed for the British Army and Royal Air Force. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other anti-aircraft weapons in Army service; guns for low-altitude targets, and the English Electric Thunderbird, used against longer-range and...
anti-aircraft missile batteries. A misconception about the Royal Navy's ability to engage air targets over land led to the navy not being informed that the army's helicopters were not using IFF. The board of inquiry concluded that it was this failure to communicate, together with the navy's assumption that all helicopters would be operating IFF, which "had a cumulative effect [and] was a major cause of [the] accident." However, the board recommended that "neither negligence nor blame should be attributed to any individual".
Effects
Given that the role of helicopters in land force operations was increasing, as was the integration of guided missile destroyerGuided missile destroyer
A guided missile destroyer is a destroyer designed to launch guided missiles. Many are also equipped to carry out anti-submarine, anti-air, and anti-surface operations. In the U.S...
s for coastal defence, the board of inquiry recommended an amendment to NATO procedures for amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
and naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...
, to alert other armed forces to the danger of underestimating a ship's missile engagement zone over land. During the late 1980s, the British government placed more emphasis on joint warfare
Joint warfare
Joint warfare is a military doctrine which places priority on the integration of the various service branches of a state's armed forces into one unified command...
training, with exercises, such as Purple Warrior, taking place in Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
and Scotland. The board noted the establishment of the Permanent Joint Headquarters
Permanent Joint Headquarters
The Permanent Joint Headquarters is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London....
, designed to put an end to the "ad hoc and reactive way" in which operations had been carried out while under single service control. IFF transmitters were fitted to all Army Air Corps and Royal Marine Gazelle and Lynx
Westland Lynx
The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants...
helicopters, and the problem of operating IFF in the vicinity of Rapier
Rapier missile
Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile developed for the British Army and Royal Air Force. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other anti-aircraft weapons in Army service; guns for low-altitude targets, and the English Electric Thunderbird, used against longer-range and...
batteries has been successfully addressed. The board supported a recommendation that the responsibilities of naval gunfire-support liaison officers could be broadened to include the interpretation of air defence problems during inshore joint warfare operations.
A memorial cross was installed atop Pleasant Peak, and the number "205" was painted at the crash site by the soldiers of 205 Signal Squadron. The number is approximately 40 m (131.2 ft) wide and can be seen from the air (51.783600°N 58.467786°W).