OFFICIALS: PILOT BEHAVED NORMALLY

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An American missionary plane shot down over Peru did not
appear to be on a drug trafficking mission because it flew deep into that
country's airspace instead of sticking close to the border area and took no
other actions normally associated with drug flights, U.S. officials said
Wednesday.

The CIA-sponsored plane that monitored the missionary aircraft decided to
notify the Peruvian Air Force about the single-engine Cessna despite the
crew's belief that it probably was unrelated to drug smuggling.

Within minutes, a Peruvian fighter plane opened fire on the Cessna, killing
Veronica "Roni" Bowers, an American missionary, and her 7-month-old daughter.

The crew aboard the surveillance plane was surprised when the Peruvian
fighter attacked the suspect plane without a thorough check to identify it,
officials said. Only about four minutes elapsed between the time of
notification and the attack on the plane, the officials said.

The officials, asking not to be identified, said there were a number of
reasons for believing that the flight was not on a drug mission. The plane
was flying straight instead of taking evasive maneuvers and was not flying
low to the ground, as drug courier pilots often do, the officials said.

Despite the exculpatory information, the surveillance crew decided to alert
the Peruvian Air Force about the presence of the suspect plane because it
lacked proof as to its true identity, the officials said.

Established procedures call for Peruvian fighters that approach suspect
planes to use hand signals and send radio messages to make contact. One
official said the surveillance plane expected the Peruvian interceptor to
make a much more comprehensive check than it did before opening fire.

As U.S. officials see it, the incident was a departure from what they
regard as a highly professional performance by the Peruvians in the
anti-drug program.

Bowers' husband, Jim, and their 6-year-old son, Cory, survived, as did
pilot Kevin Donaldson, who was wounded and has undergone surgery on both legs.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., said an audiotape of the sequence of events was
being reviewed by the CIA. He said transcribing the tape was difficult
because of several people speaking Spanish and English over the loud noise
of the airplane.

On the tape, the CIA crew on the surveillance aircraft can be heard trying
to warn the Peruvian officials not to attack, The New York Times reported
on its Web site Wednesday night.

But the Peruvian jet almost immediately opened fire, and the pilot of the
small Cessna can then be heard on the tape saying, "They are killing us!"
the Times reported, citing an unidentified U.S. official.

The American pilot and co-pilot of the surveillance plane then shouted to a
Peruvian Air Force officer on board, who was acting as their liaison with
the Peruvian fighter, to order a cease-fire.

At that point, one member of the American crew can be heard shouting, "Tell
him to terminate, tell him to terminate!" the official told the Times. The
Peruvian officer on board the American plane then told the Peruvian fighter
plane: "No more. No more."

Communications between the Peruvians and the Americans on the surveillance
flight were not a problem because, officials said, the Peruvian was an
English speaker.

As a result of the incident, the U.S. airborne surveillance cooperation
with Peru has been suspended. A U.S. team is expected to fly to Lima in the
coming days to discuss ways of ensuring that Friday's tragedy won't be
repeated. According to officials, the suspension is expected to be lifted
in a few weeks.

State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said a similar program of
cooperation with Colombia also has been suspended. The programs with Peru
and Colombia have been in effect for more than a decade, although there was
a brief suspension in 1994 because of unresolved legal issues.

In Bogota, Colombia's air force chief said the suspension of U.S. airborne
surveillance cooperation over his country will hamper anti-narcotics efforts.

"This is serious for everybody, because it will permit drug traffickers to
operate with a certain freedom," Air Force Gen. Hector Velasco told The
Associated Press.

Velasco said he had been told the suspension would be only temporary. He
estimated that "about 20" of 48 suspected drug traffickers' planes
destroyed by the Colombian Air Force during the past three years in the air
and on the ground were flights first detected by U.S. authorities.