U.S. to Settle Suit Over Plane's Downing in Peru

By Associated Press

Thursday, March 21, 2002; Page A13

On the eve of President Bush's trip to Latin America, his administration said yesterday that the downing of a small plane over Peru last year "should never have happened" and that it is prepared to compensate the survivors and the family of the victims.

"We offer our sincere condolences to the victims and their families," said a statement by White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

A Pennsylvania-based missionary group's Cessna float plane was shot down by a Peruvian jet in April after a CIA-operated surveillance plane misidentified it as a possible drug-smuggling flight.

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