A-10 Pilots' Terrible Mistake Costs British Soldier’s Life (Cockpit Audio)

On March 28, 2003, during the opening phase of the Iraq War, two U.S. Air National Guard A-10s attacked a British ground convoy after the pilots mistook the friendly formation for an Iraqi threat. Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull was killed and four other British soldiers were injured. The incident became one of the most scrutinized friendly-fire cases of the war because cockpit video and radio communications showed how uncertainty about the ground situation developed into a weapons release.

The target was misidentified

The account identifies the aircraft as two A-10s from the Idaho Air National Guard's 190th Fighter Squadron. The pilots were operating with information that Iraqi forces were believed to be in the area. They saw vehicles carrying what appeared to be orange panels, but forward air controllers told them there were no friendly forces in the immediate area. The pilots interpreted the vehicles as Iraqi rocket-launcher vehicles.

The attack

The pilots manoeuvred toward the convoy and opened fire with the A-10's 30 mm cannon. The incident unfolded rapidly, and the pilots did not correctly establish the identity or location of the ground force before engaging. The subsequent investigations focused heavily on communication, situational awareness and the failure to positively identify the target.

Investigation and aftermath

The cockpit recording became an important piece of evidence, but its release was controversial. The British inquest examined the circumstances surrounding Hull's death and criticised the handling of the cockpit video. The public record establishes the friendly-fire nature of the attack and the fatal outcome; it does not support reducing the event to a single isolated mistake without considering the wider communication and identification failures.

The nature of the error

The released cockpit transcript provides a more concrete sequence. The pilots saw four vehicles carrying orange identification panels, asked whether friendly forces were present, received an affirmative assurance that they were clear of friendlies, and then interpreted the vehicles as enemy rocket launchers. The attack followed shortly afterward. The later British inquest concluded that Hull's death was unlawful, while contemporary reporting also documented serious questions about the information passed between the pilots and ground controllers.

On 28 March 2003, two A-10s operating over southern Iraq attacked a British armoured patrol near Basra in a friendly-fire incident. The cockpit recording and later reporting show that the pilots were trying to identify targets while receiving information from forward air controllers, and that confusion developed over the location of coalition forces. The recording preserves call signs and time references, but the sequence is described here only where it can be tied to the released material.

“there were 'no friendlies' in the area”

Accident Facts

The public sources do not provide a single verified clock time for every stage of the attack, so the timeline uses sequence.

Sources

• The Guardian: Cockpit transcript of the Matty Hull friendly-fire incident
• CBS News: Cockpit tape report on the friendly-fire attack