1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue aircraft

On 24 February 1996, two of the Brothers to the Rescue Cessna 337 Skymasters (twin-engine civilian light aircraft) were shot down by a Cuban Air Force Mikoyan MiG-29UB, while a second jet fighter, a MiG-23, orbited nearby. All the occupants of the aircraft were killed: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales. A third aircraft, flown by José Basulto, escaped.[1] The first aircraft was shot down 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi) outside Cuban territorial airspace, and the second was shot down 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) outside.[1]

A military version of the Cessna 337, the Cessna O-2 Skymaster, had been retired in the late 1980s from military service, although two examples were kept mainly in storage by the US Army at the Yuma Testing Ground until 2010. Cuba claimed that the group used "planes previously employed in the wars in Vietnam and El Salvador given to them by the U.S. Air Force from which the "USAF" signs have not been completely erased."[2]

The incident was investigated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Their report concluded that the authorities in Cuba had notified the authorities in the United States of multiple violations of their airspace since May 1994.[3] In at least one case (13 July 1995), the pilot had released leaflets over Havana. The United States authorities had issued public statements advising of the potential consequences of unauthorized entry into Cuban airspace and had initiated legal actions against Basulto, but had retained his certification to fly during appeal. After Basulto was warned by an FAA official about the possibility of being shot down, he replied, "You must understand I have a mission in life to perform", disregarding the potential danger involved.[4] He later said he considered the group's activities to be acts of civil disobedience against the regime, and a demonstration that such disobedience was possible.[4]

According to Cuban authorities, two light aircraft entered Cuban territorial airspace on 9 and 13 January 1996, and released leaflets which fell on Cuban territory. According to the pilot of one of the aircraft, half a million leaflets were released on 13 January; he also claims they were released outside the 12 miles (19 km) Cuban territorial limit and the wind carried them to Havana. This version of events was detailed by Juan Pablo Roque, the man who had returned to Cuba the day before the shootdown and who was later implicated as having helped organize the shootdown as a Cuban spy placed with the group. According to Roque, Basulto had dropped the leaflets from 10 miles (16 km) north of Havana, not the stated 12 miles (19 km), from a high altitude on a day when the winds would carry them south toward Cuba. Specifically, in a Cuban television interview days after the shootdown took place, Roque, from within Cuba, stated, "I personally have violated air space, specifically the last was on 9 January 1996, where I got a call the day before to participate in a flight to Havana where thousands of leaflets were going to be released from a height of more than 9,500 feet (2,900 m) at a distance of less than 10 miles (16 km) from the coast."

Following that incident, the ICAO report states, the Commander of the Anti-Aircraft Defence of the Air Force of Cuba was instructed to intercept any further flights and was authorized to shoot them down, whether or not they had entered Cuban airspace.

On 24 February 1996, the group's aircraft flew another mission. While the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft were still north of the 24th parallel, the Cuban Air Force ordered the scrambling of two military aircraft, a MiG-29 and a MiG-23, operating under ground control.[2]

The pilots identified the target as a Cessna 337 and requested authorization from military control, who responded with "authorized to destroy." Two of the group's three aircraft flying that day were shot down. According to the OAS report, there was no warning of any kind issued to the planes, nor the opportunity given to land. With the shooting down of each aircraft, the Cuban pilots could be heard celebrating over the radio. Terms like "cojones" were repeatedly used by the Cuban fighter pilots. Their radio transmissions included statements such as "We blew his balls off!" In a reference to the Cuban pilot's understanding that the aircraft they were attacking were the same ones that had been repeatedly and continuously flying directly over the island of Cuba beside all the buildings and over the streets, they also transmitted the following, "He won't give us any more fucking trouble." Finally, the Cuban pilots also said, "The other one is destroyed; the other one is destroyed. Homeland or death (patria o muerte), you bastards! The other one is also down." Military control stated "Congratulations to the pair of you."[5]

Subsequently, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a report that concluded, "The fact that weapons of war and combat-trained pilots were used against unarmed civilians shows not only how disproportionate the use of force was, but also the intent to end the lives of those individuals. It is claimed the extracts from the radio communications between the MiG-29 pilots and the military control tower indicate that they acted from a superior position and showed malice and scorn toward the human dignity of the victims."[6]

The third Brothers to the Rescue aircraft, with Basulto on board, was also identified for intercept and was to be shot down, but escaped.

José Basulto, aviator and leader of "Brothers to the Rescue" in Miami in 2010

Testimony from a USAF Colonel Buchner expressed support for Cuba's claim that both Brothers' aircraft and a third flown by Basulto were only 4 miles (6.4 km) to 5 miles (8.0 km) off the Cuban coast.[7] The statement by Buchner is directly contradictory to eyewitness testimony and verified radar data documentation provided by Department of the Treasury, Supervisory Detection Systems Specialist J. Houlihan during sworn testimony before an FAA Administrative Hearing in 1996, and the House of Representatives, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Committee on International Relations, Washington D.C. September 18, 1996.[8]

The ICAO report found that the aircraft shot down were both very near (and, in one case, directly above) a U.S fishing vessel named Tri-Liner which had a recorded position at the time of the incident 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi) outside Cuban territorial airspace.[9] Also nearby was the cruise ship Majesty of the Seas.[9]

The ICAO report also states that means other than interception, such as radio communication, had been available to Cuba, but had not been utilized, and that this conflicts with the ICAO principle that interception of civil aircraft should be undertaken only as a last resort.[10] It is also claimed the Cuban Air Force did not make any attempt to direct the aircraft beyond the boundaries of national airspace, guide them away from a prohibited, restricted or danger area or instruct them to effect a landing.[11]

• Cuban Five
• 1997 Cuba hotel bombings