Official: US Jet Crash Will Erode Support For Defense
A top West German military official said Saturday that the fiery crash of a U.S. Air Force jet that killed six people will further erode popular support for national defense programs. In the city of Remscheid, fire brigade leader Berthold Hoehler said the body of a construction worker was pulled from the rubble of a house destroyed in the accident, raisng the death toll from the accident to six. Seven people hurt in Thursday's accident remained in critical condition, he said. Later Saturday, at least 4,000 people took part in a torchlight vigil and procession in downtown Remscheid to remember the victims and to demand an end to low-level flight training missions. A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II jet tore a swath of destruction through a working-class neighborhood in the central West German city of Remscheid. Rescue workers continued to comb the debris Saturday, as work crews tore down the remains of demolished houses. In an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, the inspector general of West Germany's military said the crash was certain to have a serious impact on already sinking public support for defense issues. ``We are in a very difficult psychological situation,'' Dieter Wellershoff was quoted as saying. Wellershoff was referring to recent polls indicating dwindling public support for defense spending and increasing dissatisfaction over disruptive and often deadly military training maneuvers. ``I am alarmed that many West Germans have lost sight of the hard facts (of defense realities) in their hopes for continued peace,'' which hinge on West Germany's and NATO's security preparedness, he said. West Germany, a staunch NATO ally, borders East Germany and Czechoslovakia, thus putting it on the front lines of the East-West struggle. Wellershoff's comments were to appear in the newspaper's Sunday editions. The text of the interview was telexed in advance to other news media. West Germany's skies are crowded with hundreds of jets and helicopters each day. A series of deadly accidents has fueled growing calls for a halt to or drastic reductions in low-level training flights. Even before Thursday's fatal crash, 12 major accidents of military aircraft had killed 95 people this year alone. They included 70 people who died as a result of an air show crash at the U.S. base in Ramstein in August. Following the Remscheid crash, temporary suspensions of low-level training missions were ordered. The U.S. Air Force said in a statement Saturday that the pilot of the A-10 ``inadvertently flew into clouds'' while attempting to join in close formation with another aircraft. The Air Force statement, quoting Maj. Gen. Marcus A. Anderson, said the pilot ``then initiated a separation maneuver as is normal if two aircraft in formation lose visual contact.'' The statement said the lead aircraft climbed above the clouds, but that the second A-10 ``continued in a descent.'' ``We do not know why,'' Anderson said in the statement. West German military officials have speculated that the pilot may have become disoriented when he tried to climb out of the bad weather. Witnesses on the ground, however, have said they saw one of the jet's two engines on fire before it crashed.
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