Mrkonjić Grad incident

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SA-6 Gainful TEL with missiles erected.
Photo by Naval Expeditionary Warfare Training.

Date	June 2, 1995
Location	near Mrkonjić Grad, Bosnia
Result	Serb victory

Combatants

Army of Republika Srpska

USAF

Strength

SA-6 missile batteries

2 F-16s

Casualties

none

1 F-16C 89-2032/AV
Shot down

War in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sijekovac – Sarajevo – Višegrad – Banja Luka – 1st Markale – Bøllebank – Amanda – Tuzla – Mrkonjić Grad – Srebrenica – Summer '95 – Storm – 2nd Markale – NATO bombing – Mistral – Sana

The Mrkonjić Grad incident, June 2, 1995, was an incident in which a Bosnian Serb Army SA-6 surface-to-air missile shot down a USAF F-16 near Mrkonjić Grad, Bosnia. The pilot, Scott O'Grady, ejected safely and was rescued six days later, on June 8. The movie Behind Enemy Lines is loosely based on this event.

1 The incident
2 The rescue
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] The incident

The pilots, Scott "Zulu" O'Grady (Callsign: "Basher 52" spelled: "Basher Five-Two") and his flight lead, Capt. Robert G. "Wilbur" Wright (Callsign: "Basher 51" spelled: "Basher Five-One"), were briefed on the morning of June 2 about the weather and enemy positions they could expect for their flight. The two pilots took off without incident and flew according to their assigned mission parameters.

The Serbs had unexpectedly moved a missile battery south and laid a trap for any incoming aircraft. They switched on their missile radars sparingly, giving the F-16 pilots little warning of their position, and fired two SAMs toward the jets. O'Grady was alerted by cockpit instruments that a missile was coming, though flying in clouds, he could not see it. The first missile exploded between the two aircraft. The second caught O'Grady's plane in the belly. As his aircraft broke apart from the damage of the missile strike, O'Grady successfully ejected.

After landing, O'Grady abandoned his parachute moved into the woods. He lay face down, cupping his camouflaged flight gloves over his head and ears so he could not be spotted in the brush. Within minutes a teenage boy and a man wandered past; then he saw armed men nearby. Grady evaded detection even though the search for him continued relentlessly during his time on the ground. Part of this may be credited to his military SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) training, which taught him how to obtain water and food, evade detection, and avoid medical dangers like hypothermia.

[edit] The rescue

O'Grady waited to radio for help; he had been taught that downed pilots are often captured after calling for help too soon, giving away their position. Finally, on June 6, he signaled his location, using a little more of the small reserve of his radio's battery power each time he went on the air. The next day, just after 2 a.m., he dared to speak into the radio. An American voice responded, and the rescue was set in motion.

On 8 June, he was rescued by United States Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based on the USS Kearsarge.