AT SEA: U.S. AIRCRAFT FROM THE USS LINCOLN AND TWO OTHER AIRCRAFT CARRIERS IN THE GULF KEEP UP ROUND THE CLOCK SORTIES OVER IRAQ

Record ID: 278307

  • Title: AT SEA: U.S. AIRCRAFT FROM THE USS LINCOLN AND TWO OTHER AIRCRAFT CARRIERS IN THE GULF KEEP UP ROUND THE CLOCK SORTIES OVER IRAQ
  • Date: 31st March 2003
  • Summary: (EU) AT SEA (MARCH 28, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF USS LINCOLN CARRIER; PLANE TAKING OFF (2 SHOTS) 0.14 2. TOP VIEW OF DECK WITH FOUR AIRCRAFT, ONE TAKING OFF; PLANE TAKING OFF' AV HELICOPTER OVERHEAD'; PLANES ON DECK; AV PLANE FLYING OVERHEAD; SLV PERSONNEL ON DECK AS PLANE LANDS (7 SHOTS) 1.22 NIGHTSHOTS: 3. SLV PERSONNEL ON DECK
  • Embargoed: 15th April 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AT SEA
  • Country: AT SEA
  • Reuters ID: LVABASXAPQW558OO5CCVOP8J7XQB
  • Story Text: United States Aircraft from the Lincoln and two other
    aircraft carriers in the Gulf have kept up round-the-clock
    sorties over Iraq, flying around 200 missions in the past 24
    hours.

    American pilots launched their aircraft from the USS
    Lincoln as the bombing campaign on Baghdad continued through
    the night on Friday (March 28, 2003).

    Under the bombardment, blasts battered government
    buildings and pounded the southern outskirts of Baghdad, where
    U.S.-led forces have been targeting the city's defenders on
    the ground.

    U.S. commanders and the pilots say they are taking great
    pains to limit civilian casualties in their efforts to
    overthrow President Saddam Hussein. Iraqi officials have said
    68 Iraqis were killed in Baghdad in past day and 107 were
    wounded.

    Flying through dense anti-aircraft fire, the pilots seek
    targets with infra-red sensors and night-vision goggles.

    So far all the U.S. pilots have come back to the Lincoln.

    A U.S. Navy air wing commander said on Saturday (March 29)
    that supporting their ground troops in urban warfare in a city
    like Baghdad would inevitably put civilians at risk.

    Captain Kevin Albright, commander of the air wing aboard
    the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, said the pilots'
    immediate priority was to hit Iraq's elite Republican Guard.

    Albright, who flies an F/A-18E Super Hornet, said constant
    air bombardment must be demoralising for Iraqi forces on the
    southern approaches to Baghdad.

    The man in charge of all Navy air assets in the Gulf, Rear
    Admiral John Kelly, said the pilots know they might have to
    grind away at Iraqi defences for a long period.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register