![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: Americas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|
![]() |
Friday, 20 December, 2002, 18:28 GMT
Drugs involved in friendly fire deaths
![]() The 'friendly fire' killed four Canadian soldiers
The pilots were taking the drugs prescribed by the United States military when they killed four Canadians last April, according to US Air Force investigators. They are awaiting a court martial hearing due to start next month.
The pilots thought they were being fired at and dropped a laser-guided missile on their presumed attackers. It was only when they had killed four people and injured eight that they were told the group were Canadian soldiers taking part in a night live-fire exercise and that they had informed the US military. But it has now emerged that about an hour before the incident the two men had taken amphetamines, or speed as it is commonly known, that had been given to them by the US Air Force. 'Go'-pills The pills, which are illegal in the US, are given to combat pilots who are involved in long eight or nine-hour sorties in small controlled doses, say the military. The Air Force stopped prescribing the 'Go' pills, as they are known by the pilots, in 1993 after reports that crews using them during the Gulf War became addicted. But the drug has been quietly reintroduced in recent years. The Air Force says they are a medical tool that is essential for combat pilots being sent to war over Afghanistan and, possibly, Iraq. |
![]() |
See also:
![]()
30 Apr 02 | South Asia
28 Jun 02 | Americas
07 Sep 02 | South Asia
29 Apr 02 | Americas
30 Mar 02 | Americas
20 Apr 02 | Americas
Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Americas stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Americas stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Americas stories |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> | To BBC World Service>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |