1982 British Army Gazelle friendly fire incident

Loss of Gazelle XX377
Part of the Falklands War
A small camouflaged helicopter hovers, just off the ground, over a field.
A British Army Westland Gazelle helicopter, circa 1983
Date6 June 1982
Location
Pleasant Peak, Falkland Islands
Result Four British soldiers killed,
One British Army helicopter destroyed

On 6 June 1982, during the Falklands War, the British Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS Cardiff engaged and destroyed a British Army Westland Gazelle helicopter, serial number XX377, in a friendly fire incident, killing all four occupants. Cardiff, on the lookout for aircraft flying supplies to the Argentine forces occupying the Falkland Islands, had misidentified the helicopter as an enemy Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Although the helicopter's loss was initially blamed on enemy action, a subsequent inquiry found Cardiff's missile to be the cause.

On the night of 5 June, HMS Cardiff was stationed to the east of the islands to provide gunfire support to the land forces and intercept enemy aircraft. At around 02:00 a radar contact was detected; a British Army Air Corps Westland Gazelle helicopter was making a routine delivery of personnel and equipment to a radio rebroadcast station on East Falkland. From the contact's speed and course, Cardiff's operations room crew assumed it to be hostile. One Sea Dart missile was fired, missing the target. A second destroyed it.[1] The Gazelle's wreckage and crew were discovered the next morning, and the loss was attributed to enemy fire. Although Cardiff was suspected, later scientific tests on the wreckage proved inconclusive.

No formal inquiry was held until four years later. Defending their claim that the helicopter had been lost in action, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated that they had not wanted to "cause further anguish to relatives" while they were still trying to ascertain how the Gazelle had been shot down. The board of inquiry finally confirmed that the soldiers fell due to friendly fire. It recommended that "neither negligence nor blame should be attributed to any individual",[2] but identified several factors. A lack of communication between the army and the navy meant that 5th Infantry Brigade had not notified anyone of the helicopter's flight. The navy had not informed the land forces that Cardiff had changed position to set up an ambush for Argentine aircraft travelling over the area. The helicopter's identification friend or foe (IFF) transmitter was turned off, because it caused interference with the army's Rapier anti-aircraft missile system. The board of inquiry's findings prompted criticism of the MoD's initial response to the incident.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Archives was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference MOD board of inquiry was invoked but never defined (see the help page).