04-11-2010, 08:40 PM
I'm reminded of the crash that killed Zia ul Haq, then president (Ok, military dictator) of Pakistan in August of 1988. (While I was in-country, BTW)
The C-130 'accidentally' crashed, killing the President, half of the General Staff of the Army, the US Ambassador, and the US military attache. Front page photos in the Karachi English language paper "Dawn" that I saw the next morning clearly showed what looked like (to this weapons systems engineer) a guidance fin section from a Stinger missile in the wreckage of one of the engines.
After the three or so days of fighting, the Pakistan People's Party, under Benazhir Bhutto, took power. The fact that the aircraft was shot down was carefully covered up, and never heard from again.
The C-130 'accidentally' crashed, killing the President, half of the General Staff of the Army, the US Ambassador, and the US military attache. Front page photos in the Karachi English language paper "Dawn" that I saw the next morning clearly showed what looked like (to this weapons systems engineer) a guidance fin section from a Stinger missile in the wreckage of one of the engines.
After the three or so days of fighting, the Pakistan People's Party, under Benazhir Bhutto, took power. The fact that the aircraft was shot down was carefully covered up, and never heard from again.