Skip to main content

Blackhawk Incident Legal Questions

NSIAD-96-91R Published: Feb 01, 1996. Publicly Released: Feb 01, 1996.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed payments to the survivors of foreign victims of the downing of 2 U.S. helicopters in Iraq in April 1994. GAO noted that: (1) the $100,000 payments to the foreign victims' survivors were a humanitarian gesture conveying U.S. regret over the incident; (2) the payments were discretionary payments authorized by the Secretary of Defense and were not subject to certain claims acts or their implementing regulations; (3) failure to make similar payments to the American victims' survivors was not a violation of the Civil Rights Act which did not apply in the instant circumstances; and (4) there was no evidence that the Department of Defense improperly released any information regarding the life insurance of one American victim.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

AccidentsAir Force personnelAir warfareCivil rightsHelicoptersInformation disclosureInternational relationsLife insuranceQuestionable paymentsRight of privacy