| Page 2 of 3 < > |
Pilots Shot Down in Iraq Tell of Dramatic Escape
Army pilots Chief Warrant Officer 2 Mark Burrows and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Steven Cianfrini were in a plane that crash-landed in a rural area south of Baghdad on Monday. They were later rescued.
(U.S. Army 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"I have no idea," came the reply.
Cianfrini's M4 rifle had apparently been thrown from the aircraft, but he still had his M9 pistol, he said. Burrows had both his weapons.
"We determined our only option was to go into the canal," said Burrows, who is from Waverly, N.Y.
Cianfrini, who lives in Oakfield, N.Y., initially stayed behind with the survival radio at the aircraft, while Burrows rushed about 30 feet across the road and into the canal. Cianfrini followed.
Burrows waded into knee-deep water, stepped off a steep underwater embankment and started sinking into the mud. Weighed down by his armor, he thought he would drown. As the water reached his neck, he hit firm ground. Cianfrini was in up to his chin.
The pilots had planned to cross the canal to reach a field on the other side, but the mud made it hard for them to move. Moments later, they realized that being stuck probably kept them alive: Insurgents were waiting on the opposite side.
About 15 or 20 insurgents with AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons then converged on both sides of the canal and started firing.
"We couldn't move," Cianfrini said. "I was thinking, 'This is it.' " Bullets were hitting the water, chopping off the reeds and zinging over the pilots' heads. The canal was only about 20 yards wide, he estimated. The insurgents were so close that Burrows could see one quite clearly. He wore a brown T-shirt and shouldered an AK-47.
"He just didn't see us. I don't know how," said Burrows, who was back-to-back with Cianfrini. "I was just praying that they didn't see us."
Suddenly he saw the fighter use hand signals. A truck approached, and another fighter started firing toward them with a machine gun.
"The fire coming into the reeds was so immense, I was expecting to take a bullet in the head at any second," Cianfrini said.
After about five or 10 minutes the machine-gun fire gradually moved away, up the canal.
