Washington — The air controller involved in an accidental bombing in Kuwait this week was a U.S. Air Force enlisted man on temporary assignment who himself was injured in the deadly mishap, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Crusing, a tactical air controller posted at Fort Campbell, Ky., was one of seven people injured when the Navy F/A-18 he was directing released three bombs near an observatory post at the Udairi training range Monday evening. Crusing, a member of the 19th Air Support Operations Squadron, was hospitalized in stable condition after the accident, officials said.
It remains unclear whether the mistake that led to the accident was made by Crusing, by the F/A-18 pilot, Navy Cmdr. David Zimmerman, or by both. Defense Department officials said earlier this week that Crusing cleared Zimmerman to drop three unguided 500-pound bombs and then, a moment later, told Zimmerman to "abort, abort."
The abort order came too late, and the bombs struck as close as 90 feet from an observatory post where a group of 20 U.S., British, Kuwaiti and New Zealander military observers were standing. The post was about a mile from the warplane's intended target.
A military investigative team scheduled to arrive in Kuwait today will try to determine the cause of the accident, which killed six.
Although there was another controller on the scene at the time of the mishap, Crusing was in sole control of the fighter's strike, officials said. In close air support operations in wartime, the situation would be similar; forward air controllers are often enlisted troops who parachute into a battle zone.
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