Actual Events as They Unfolded
To lay to rest the speculative talk on what happened, here is the detail of events as they unfolded when they got hit in Bor, South Sudan. On that particular day the US Air Force was to send a C 130 Hercules for extraction of US Citizens from Bor. Accordingly the Rebel forces were informed. However the US Air Force landed up with 04 Ospreys and not the C 130 as had been planned and coordinated. Unfortunately the arrival of the Ospreys coincided with an Air Raid carried out by the Govt Jets over Rebel Positions not far from Bor. Thus due to lack of knowledge about the Aircraft, the Rebels positioned in Bor opened up with Automatics including AKs, PKMs And 23 MM ZSU Guns. However, the OSPREYS were majestic in their flight and impressed those of us watching the drama unfold. The American Pilots could have been less aggressive in their flying over a hostile zone. They first made a very fast low flying recce run over the airstrip and then turned back at steep angles for the landing approach. If they had come in slowly as helicopters do with rotors up and landed, the firing would not have taken place. The Aircraft which took the maximum hit flew directly over the rebel firing position at a very low altitude during its approach for landing. Due credit due to the pilots who after taking so many hits were able to pull up the aircraft and then fly it to Uganda. Superb Aircraft though...