U.S. AIDES REFUSE DETAILS ON SALVADOR CRASH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440065-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 29, 2010
• Sequence Number: 65
• Publication Date: October 21, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/06/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440065-6
ARTICLE APPF..ARM NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE Z 21 October 198i
U.S. Aides Refuse Details on Salvador Crash
By PHILIP SHABECOFF
Stec.ai to The New York Ticees
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 - United
States Government officials refused to
answer questions today about the cir-
cumstances suiivunding the crash of a
twin-engine aircraft in El Saivador in
which four American employees of the
Central Intelligence Agency died.
The questions included the matter of
why civilian intelligence igents were
ooerating in an ai e.. tha is regularly
;,auoiied by Unitai ,avV.- military in-
tvLigence forces.
Flight's Origin a Mystery
Nor would the Government officials
disclose where the intelligaitee-gather-
ing flight originated. Several reports of
the accident said that the plane may
have taken off from Palmerola Air
Base in Honduras. That is where the
United States 224th Military Intelli-
gence Battalion has been operating.
The crash occurred Friday.
The i doran rebel radio asserted
today that the aircraft had been shot
down, an assertion that the State De-
partment flatly denied.
A spokesman for the department,
Brian Carlson, said that the assertion,
broadcast by Radio Venceremos, that
the plane had been hit by rebel ground
fire was untrue.
He also denied rebels' assertions that
Salvadoran soldiers had been aboard
the craft, ana tnat it had been support-
ing bombing operations by the Govern-
ment.
Representative Thomas J. Downey,
Democrat of New r ork, who had been
briefed on the plane crash by the Direc-
tor of Central Intelligence, William J.
Casey, said today that he had "reason
to believe that the flight did not origi-
nate" from the Palmerola base in Hon-
duras.
Administration officials have said
only that the plane, carrying four
C.I.A. employees, crashed into a moun-
tain in northeastern El Salvador during
a heavy storm, killing the four employ-
ees. The plane's mission, according to
the State Department, was "to assist in
locating and identifying shipments of
arms and ammunication from Nicara-
gua to the guerillas in El Salvador."
But according to information given
to members of 'Congress, the plane
crashed while in pursuit of another air-
craft.
Near Rebel Stronghold
In a letter to Mr. Casey today, Mr.
Downey noted that the crash site was
near a rebel stronghold and asked that
assurances be given to Congress that
no sensitive intelligence material had
fallen into the hands of the rebel forces
Mr. Downey said by telephone that gence aoout guerrilla operations and
he believed the downed plan was carry- transmit the findings to the Salvadoran
ing "sophisticated sensing devices," 'Government.
including "side-looking radar."
In his letter to Mr. Casey, he asked I Mr. Downey said that he was not
for assurances that no United-States questioning the right of the C.I.A. to
military or intelligence personnel gather information in El Salvador. But
would be engaged in combat during ef- he said the disclosure on Friday that
forts to recover the bodies from the 1 three United States military advisers,
plane crash. He also asked for assur- one armed with an automatic weapon,
ances that the craft had not been oper- had flown into a battle area during a
ating over Nicaraguan territory. Government offensive against the
Mr. Downey's first question to Mr, rebels raised serious questions about
Casey, however, was, "Why was the possible violations of the War Powers
C.I.A. flying reconnaissance when the Act. The act places limits on the Presi-
224th Military Intelligence Battalion
was stationed in Honduras?" One of the
ambiguities surrounding the plane
crash, he said in a telephone interview,
was why intelligence was being gath-
ered clandestinely when it was also
being gatnerea openly.
Other legislators were satisfied with
the Administration's explanations of
the plai.e crash. Senator Barry Gold-
water, Republican of Arizona and
chairman of the Senate Select Commit-
tee on Intelligence, called it "an unfor-
tunate accident that happens day after
Senator Dr }Xgyat,
Democrat o ew York and the outgo-
jug ranking minority member of the in-
telligence committee, said the crash
was "just damned bad luck." He added
that in this episode, "the C.I.A. has
played straight with us."
Since taking office, the Reagan Ad-
ministration has established an exten-
sive intelligence-gathering network in
Central America to monitor guerrilla
activities in El Salvador and to track
Soviet and Cuban arms shipments and
other activities throughout the region.
In El Salvador, the United States
supplies limited military assistance,
including 55 military advisors, the
aerial surveillance battallion, military
equipment and training for Salvadoran
forces, to help'the Salvadoran Govern-
dent's ability to commit military forces
without consulting Congress.
The New York Congressman wrote to
Representative Dante B. Fascell,
Democrat of Florida and chairman of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
asking him to learn the facts and deter-
mine if the Administration had vioiated
the law.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Presi-
dential candidate, Walter F. Mondale,
again called on President Reagan to
dismiss Mr. Casey as head of the C.I.A.
Without referring specifically to the
plane crash in El Salvador, Mr. Mon-
dale said in a radio broadcast today:
"With Americans losing their lives in
Central America, where are we headed
next?"
ment in its war against leftist guerril-
las.
The primary C.I.A. function in El
Salvador has been to collect intelli-
1P
Approved For Release 2010/06/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440065-6