THE American military have been operating flights across Europe
using a call sign assigned to a civilian airline that they have
no legal right to use.
Not only is the call sign bogus — according to the International
Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) — so, it appears, are
some of the aircraft details the Americans have filed with the
air traffic control authorities.
In at least one case, a plane identified with the CIA practice
of “extraordinary rendition” — transporting
terrorist suspects — left a US air base just after the arrival
of an aircraft using the bogus call sign.
The call sign Juliet Golf Oscar (JGO) followed by a flight number
belongs, says the ICAO, to a now bankrupt Canadian low-cost airline
called Jetsgo of Montreal.
But for several years and as recently as last December it has
been used selectively by both the American air force and army
to cover the flights of aircraft to and from the Balkans.
These range from Learjet 35 executive jets to C-130 transport
planes and MC-130P Combat Shadows, which are specially adapted
for clandestine missions in politically sensitive or hostile territory.
A Sunday Times analysis of flight plans and radio logs has placed
these aircraft at locations including Tuzla in Bosnia, Pristina
in Kosovo, Aviano, the site of a large joint US-Italian military
air base in northern Italy, and Ramstein in Germany, the headquarters
of the US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE).
On December 11, 2004, USAFE in Ramstein filed a flight plan for
a Learjet 35 to fly from Tuzla to Aviano. The flight plan was
copied to 15 addressees including Tuzla airport, Aviano airport
and a mysterious recipient labelled “xxxxxxxx”.
The aircraft’s identity was given as JGO 80, the flight
was a Learjet 35 operated by the Department of Defence and the
registration was 99999E.
The status of the flight was given as “humanitarian”.
But it was also given as “state”, which means government,
and as “protected”, which means diplomatic.
During the time the plane was in the air, USAFE changed some
of the flight plan timings and at the same time the registration
changed. The aircraft metamorphosed into 40112E but continued
to be a Learjet 35 and was still JGO 80 and a humanitarian, government
and diplomatic flight.
While the Learjet was on the ground at Tuzla, an Ilyushin 76
was loading a cargo of 45 tons of surplus weapons and ammunition
sold off by the Bosnian military and destined for Rwanda in defiance
of a UN embargo.
The Ilyushin left Tuzla, flew over Italy and headed south in
the direction of Africa. The American Learjet took off 55 minutes
later.
In a report exposing arms trafficking to war-torn central Africa,
Amnesty International has suggested that “US security authorities
were engaged in a covert operation to ferry arms to Rwanda in
the face of political opposition from the European Union”.
Another interesting convergence of flights occurred in February
2004. On February 24, an MC-130P Combat Shadow using the call
sign JGO 50 took off from Aviano for an unknown destination.
Two days later, on February 26, the aircraft left Pristina for
Tuzla. A short while after that, a Gulfstream 5 executive jet,
call sign JGO 47, flew from Tuzla to Aviano, arriving at 23.11
GMT. The next day, a Learjet 35 using the call sign SPAR 92 left
Aviano for an unknown destination.
SPAR is short for Special Air Resources, an American military
airlift service that transports senior military officers and civilian
VIPs.
However, SPAR 92 has been identified as the aircraft which was
used by the CIA secretly to transport a Muslim preacher who was
kidnapped by CIA agents in Milan in 2003.
A USAFE spokesman last week said American aircraft using the
JGO call sign were performing “Joint Guard Operations”
for the Nato/European peacekeeping mission in the Balkans.
However, inquiries have shown that the military operation called
“Joint Guard” ended in 1998. They also show that none
of the US aircraft deployed in it match ones using the JGO call
sign.
A spokesman for the ICAO said: “Our records indicate that
the designator JGO is still assigned to Jetsgo and the ICAO does
not assign the same code to two operators.”
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