The Mrkonjić Grad incident was the shooting down of a United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 (USAF) F-16C

F-16 Fighting Falcon

The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force . Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,400 aircraft have been built since...

 by a Bosnian Serb Army SA-6 surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

 near Mrkonjić Grad

Mrkonjic Grad

Mrkonjić Grad is a town and municipality in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Republika Srpska entity. It is located in the Bosanska Krajina, between Banja Luka and Jajce.-Name:...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

, on June 2, 1995. The American pilot, Scott O'Grady

Scott O'Grady

Scott Francis O'Grady is a former USAF Captain and former United States Air Force fighter pilot who gained prominence after the June 2, 1995 Mrkonjić Grad incident, in which he ejected over Bosnia when his F-16C was shot down by a Bosnian Serb SA-6 while he was patrolling the no-fly zone...

, ejected safely and was rescued six days later, on June 8.

NATO: Operation Deny Flight

The Bosnian War

Bosnian War

The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...

 was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after popular pressure had decided to intervene in the Bosnian War after allegations of war crimes against civilians were made by various media organizations. NATO military involvement primarily involved enforcement of a "No Fly Zone" code named Operation Deny Flight

Operation Deny Flight

Operation Deny Flight was a North Atlantic Treaty Organization operation that began on April 12, 1993 as the enforcement of a United Nations no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina...

 to discourage military aircraft from the Serbian Armed Forces from attacking Bosnian civilians and Bosniak and Croat forces. As part of that operation, two F-16s from the 555th Fighter Squadron

555th Fighter Squadron

The 555th Fighter Squadron is part of the 31st Operations Group at Aviano Air Base, Italy. It operates F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting an air superiority mission.-Mission:...

 based at Aviano Air Base

Aviano Air Base

Aviano Air Base is a NATO Air Base under U.S. Air Force administration in northeastern Italy, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. It is located in Aviano municipality, at the foot of the Carnic Pre-Alps, or Southern Carnic Alps, about 15 kilometers from Pordenone.-Units:Aviano is hosted by the...

, Italy, were patrolling overhead on June 2.

On the ground, a SA 6 Gainful surface-to-air missile system was readying its missiles for NATO aircraft. The Serbs had moved the mobile tracked missile battery and laid a trap. They switched on their missile radars sparingly, giving the F-16 pilots little warning. Waiting until it was directly overhead, where the aircraft's warning and countermeasures would be at its weakest, they fired two missiles skyward. In the cockpit, O'Grady's instruments alerted him that a missile was coming but, flying in clouds, he could not see it. The first missile exploded between the two aircraft. The second struck the F-16 piloted by O'Grady. His wingman, Captain Bob Wright, saw O'Grady's plane burst into flames, breaking it in two. He did not see a parachute, but O'Grady survived as he ejected from the aircraft.

O'Grady landed amidst a Serbian population that was assumed to be unfriendly and, within a minute, he had secured a 29-pound survival bag under his seat, ran, and hid. Rubbing dirt on his face, he hid face-down as Serbian forces came upon his parachute and ejection seat, at one point hitting the ground with their rifles in an effort to flush him out only feet from where he was hidden.

During the next six days, he put to use the lessons learned during a 17 day Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training he had undertaken near his hometown of Spokane, WA. He ate leaves, grass, and bugs, and stored the little rainwater he could collect with a sponge in plastic bags.

O'Grady waited to radio for help, as the US Air Force had taught him that downed pilots are often captured after calling for help too soon, giving away their position. On his fourth full day on the ground, he signaled his location using the small reserve of his radio's battery power each time he went on the air. Allied military planes conducting sorties in the Balkans had been picking up beeper snippets that they thought could be coming from O'Grady. Unfortunately, this extremely sensitive piece of information was inadvertently revealed by General Ronald Fogleman, the Air Force Chief of Staff, when the general told reporters at a promotion ceremony one Monday that monitors had detected "intermittent" transmissions. A NATO official was quoted as saying "I was dumbfounded he said that... I mean, why not just announce to the bad guys, 'We think he's alive and kicking, and we hope we find him before you do'?"

Rescue

Just after midnight June 8, he spoke into the radio. An F-16 pilot from the 555th responded, and after confirming his identity, the rescue was set in motion. At 4:40, Admiral Leighton Smith, commander of NATO Southern Forces, called US Marine Colonel Martin Berndt aboard the USS Kearsarge

USS Kearsarge (LHD-3)

USS Kearsarge is the third of the United States Navy. She is the fifth ship to be named in honor of the USS Kearsarge, a sloop-of-war that gained fame during the American Civil War, which was in turn named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire.-Construction:Kearsarges keel was laid down on 6...

 with orders to "execute."

Two CH-53 Sea Stallions with 51 Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Force, lifted off the USS Kearsarge to rescue the pilot. The two helicopters were accompanied by two Marine AH-1W SuperCobra helicopter gunships and a pair of Marine AV-8B Harrier jump jets. These six aircraft had support from identical sets of replacement helicopters and jump jets as well as two Navy EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare planes, two Marine F/A-18D Hornets, a pair of anti-tank Air Force A-10 Warthogs and a NATO AWACS radar plane.

At 6:35 a.m., the helicopters approached the area where O'Grady's signal beacon had been traced. The pilots saw bright yellow smoke coming from trees near a rocky pasture where O'Grady had set off a flare. The first Stallion, commanded by Major William Tarbutton, touched down and 20 Marines jumped off the aircraft and set up a defensive perimeter. As the second Sea Stallion landed, a figure with a pistol who turned out to be the missing pilot appeared running towards the Marines and immediately went to the Sea Stallion. As the side door opened, he was pulled in before the second 20 Marines poised to leave by the rear ramp could even move. They were called back to their seats, and those who had formed the defensive perimeter reboarded the other helicopter. After a quick head count, the Stallions took off. They had been on the ground no more than seven minutes.

The Return

The Marines and their passenger were still flying low over Serb-held Bosnia, so the threat was not yet over. American aircraft detected a Serb missile radar along the Croatian coast, scanning for targets. An American plane recommended destroying the Serb radar, code-named Giraffe. The request was denied, partly out of concern that a strike could spark wider conflict.

Minutes later, the Marines reported they were under fire. Two shoulder-held surface-to-air missiles had been launched at them but missed, as the helicopter pilots—flying 150 feet off the ground at 175 mph—jinked to evade them. Serb small arms pocked both helicopters; the Marines aboard heard the shells hit inside the fuselage. One door gunner returned fire. One round hit some communication gear in the chopper and the bullet ended up against a Master Sergeant Angel Castro Jr.'s armor without injuring anyone. They were almost safe; At 7:15 AM local time, 30 minutes after picking up O'Grady, the rescuers reported "feet wet," meaning they were over water. O'Grady was back aboard Kearsarge at 7:30. All of the aircraft landed without incident.

In popular culture

The 2001 film Behind Enemy Lines starring Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman

Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...

 and Owen Wilson

Owen Wilson

Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...

 is loosely based on this event. O'Grady sued 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

 for making a film he believes was made about him without seeking his permission. He took action over the documentary, Behind Enemy Lines: The Scott O'Grady Story, which was made by the BBC, and later purchased and edited by Discovery Communications, which owns the Discovery Channel. The documentary was screened several times on the Discovery Channel, and O'Grady accused Fox of using it to promote the film. O'Grady took offense at the portrayal of 'his' character in Behind Enemy Lines "as a pilot who disobeys orders and swears". The suits were settled in 2004. A Texas court ruled against O'Grady and in favor of Discovery Communications stating in effect that the events in a persons life is not the same thing as one's likeness or image.

The incident was later depicted on the documentary television program Situation Critical in episode #5 "Downed Pilot". It was also covered in "Escape! – Escape From Bosnia: The Scott O'Grady Story" on the History Channel.

O'Grady authored two books, one with Michael French detailing his experiences of being shot down over Bosnia and his eventual rescue — Basher Five-Two: The True Story of F-16 Fighter Pilot Captain Scott O'Grady. He later wrote a book concerning the spiritual effects from his experience in Return with Honor with Jeff Coplon. Another book has also been written: "Good to Go": The Rescue of Capt. Scott O'Grady, USAF, from Bosnia by Mary Pat Kelly.

See also

• Banja Luka incident
  Banja Luka incident
  The Banja Luka incident on February 28, 1994, was an incident in which six Republika Srpska Air Force J-21 Jastreb single-seat light attack jets were engaged, and four of them shot down, by United States Air Force F-16s southwest of Banja Luka, Bosnia....
  
   in which Wright, the aforementioned lead pilot on O'Grady's mission, shot down three "Jastrebs
  Soko J-21 Jastreb
  |-See also:...
  
  ".

External links

• http://www.sgtmacsbar.com/Stories/ThatOthersMayLive/ThatOthersMayLive.html