1984 Joateca Bell UH-1 bombing

1984 Joateca Bell UH-1 bombing

A Bell UH-1H of the Salvadoran Air Force, similar to the one involved in the bombing
Bombing
Date	23 October 1984 (1984-10-23)
Summary	In-flight bombing and crash
Site	Joateca, Morazán, El Salvador 13°53′58″N 88°03′02″W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Bell UH-1H
Operator	Salvadoran Air Force
Registration	284
Flight origin	Joateca, El Salvador
Destination	Los Comandos Airport, San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador
Occupants	14
Passengers	11
Crew	3
Fatalities	14
Survivors	0

On 23 October 1984, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) bombed a Bell UH-1H of the Salvadoran Air Force in Joateca, El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War. The bombing killed all 14 occupants on board the helicopter, including Salvadoran lieutenant colonel Domingo Monterrosa who commanded the American-trained Atlácatl Battalion.

The FMLN planted dynamite inside of a radio transmitter that they portrayed as being the primary transmitter for Radio Venceremos, a radio station that the FMLN operated. Monterrosa sought to capture the transmitter as a war trophy, and the dynamite detonated as the helicopter climbed 1,000 feet (300 m) in altitude. The Salvadoran military claimed that the helicopter crashed due to a mechanical failure while the FMLN claimed that it had shot down the aircraft with heavy machine gun fire. The Salvadoran military ultimately determined that a bomb took down the helicopter one month after the bombing.

Background

Domingo Monterrosa

In December 1981, Salvadoran lieutenant colonel Domingo Monterrosa ordered soldiers of the Atlácatl Battalion to indiscriminately kill civilians in the village of El Mozote in the Arambala municipality of the Morazán Department. The massacre killed over 1,000 people. Morazán was one of the strongholds of the rebel Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in eastern El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992).

When Monterrosa was promoted to command the Salvadoran Army's 3rd Brigade in 1984, the FMLN listed him as a high priority target to have killed. The FMLN's primary motivation to kill Monterrosa was because his promotion made him the Salvadoran Army's most senior military commander in eastern El Salvador, and the FMLN saw Monterrosa as their biggest threat. The FMLN also wanted to avenge the victims of the El Mozote massacre three years prior.

Radio Venceremos

The original Radio Venceremos transmitter at the Museum of the Revolution in Perquín, El Salvador

One of Monterrosa's obsessions during the civil war was to capture the primary radio transmitter that the FMLN used to broadcast Radio Venceremos, a radio station that it used to denounce the Salvadoran government's war crimes and spread pro-FMLN propaganda. Radio Venceremos was operated under territory that Monterrosa claimed he controlled in Morazán, and he sought to capture the transmitter as a war trophy.

Bombing

Army captures disguised bomb

On 23 October 1984, FMLN coaxed government soldiers into a skirmish near Joateca, Morazán; the FMLN retreated and appeared to have abandoned the primary transmitter for Radio Venceremos which was subsequently captured by the Salvadoran Army. Instead, the FMLN had planted 8 sticks of dynamite into a spare radio transmitter previously used for Radio Venceremos and intentionally allowed the army to capture it in the hopes that it would kill Monterrosa himself. The dynamite was rigged to detonate if it climbed 1,000 feet (300 m) in altitude. The rigged transmitter's capture occurred during Operation Torola 4, a helicopter assault on FMLN positions in Morazán that was commanded by Monterrosa.

Monterrosa celebrated the capture of the transmitter. He, some military officers, and journalists and flew to Joateca to retrieve it. In an interview, Monterrosa stated that "the myth of Morazán is over", in reference to the Radio Venceremos transmitter. Monterrosa invited domestic and foreign news outlets to view the captured transmitter in San Miguel. The FMLN ceased broadcasts of Radio Venceremos while the Salvadoran Army had the rigged transmitter in their possession leading the Salvadoran military and press believing that Radio Venceremos had actually been captured.

Aircraft

The helicopter that operated the flight was a Bell UH-1H owned by the Salvadoran Air Force. The Bell UH-1H was numbered 284 and had the manufacture serial number 5965.

Flight and crash

On 23 October 1984, Monterrosa boarded a Bell UH-1H along with the rigged radio transmitter at Joateca, and the flight would transport them to San Francisco Gotera, the capital of Morazán. The bomb exploded shortly after takeoff around 5 p.m. local time (7 p.m. EDT). The explosion killed all 14 people on board the helicopter and it crashed near the El Salvador–Honduras border. Among those killed included Monterrosa, Lieutenant Colonel Napoleón Herson Calitto (commander of the Morazán garrison), Major Armando Azmitia (Monterrosa's successor as commander of the Atlácatl Battalion), Major Nelson Alejandro Rivas, three pilots with the rank of sub-lieutenant, two artillery soldiers, three members of the Armed Forces Press Committee, one priest, and one sacristan. Monterrosa was last seen sitting on top of the rigged transmitter as the helicopter took off.

Aftermath

Investigation

The wreckage of the helicopter at the Museum of the Revolution in Perquín, El Salvador

The day after the crash, Salvadoran president José Napoleón Duarte called for an investigation to determine wether the crash was caused by a mechanical failure or by an FMLN attack. Duarte and the Salvadoran military believed that the crash was "almost certainly" caused by a "mechanical failure" as three army officers stated that the helicopter's pilot reported that it was experiencing a mechanical problem prior to the crash. Meanwhile, the FMLN claimed that it had shot down the helicopter with a heavy machine gun, that they struck the rotors and gas tank causing the helicopter to explode. The FMLN's claim was made over renewed Radio Venceremos broadcasts.

By late November 1984, the Salvadoran military determined that a bomb brought down the helicopter due to damage patterns on the helicopter and the conditions of the bodies recovered, although no traces of explosive residue had been found at the time.

Reactions

FMLN commander Joaquín Villalobos stated that "We aren't going to celebrate the death of a man. We're going to celebrate the people who'll live now that he's gone!" He further added that Monterrosa was killed in revenge for the El Mozote massacre. An official from the United States embassy in San Salvador stated that the helicopter crash and Monterrosa's death were a "major setback for El Salvador [...] It happened just when things seemed to be going well." The Salvadoran Army named Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Méndez as Monterrosa's successor as overall commander in eastern El Salvador. Monterrosa's funeral was held in San Salvador, El Salvador's capital city, on 27 October 1984.

Wreckage

The wreckage of the bombed Bell UH-1H is located at the Museum of the Revolution in Perquín, El Salvador.

See also

• List of accidents and incidents involving helicopters