Интервью с Двили от Associated Press
Pilot recognizes crashed F-117A
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. - When Air Force Capt. Ken Dwelle saw the wreckage of a downed F-117A Nighthawk that crashed in Yugoslavia, he knew there was something familiar about the plane - it was his.
The first thing Dwelle did after recognizing the plane was to call his mother and grandmother. Once his family saw his name on the plane's tail, Dwelle said, ''I knew the calls would be coming.''
The 9-year Air Force veteran had flown the same nighthawk dozens of times as a flight instructor at Holloman Air Force Base. But this is one flight he was glad he missed.
''When I saw the wreckage on the news, I knew right away what it was,'' said Dwelle, who has been teaching pilots to fly the $45 million plane for the past 3 1/2 years. ''When I saw what was burning, it was surprising.''
Dwelle, who said he knows the pilot, would not identify him. The pilot was rescued by a combat extraction team. Dwelle was interviewed by The Associated Press Sunday evening as he left his home on the south side of Alamogordo with his wife and two children.
Dwelle flew stealth fighter missions over Iraq and flew every time the 49th Fighter Wing was deployed, until this latest mission.
''I guess I picked the right one to miss,'' he said.
He said he is separating from the military in a month to become a commercial pilot and that's why he didn't fly this time.
Pilot names are inscribed on the planes based on seniority, he said. But since there are more pilots than planes every pilot doesn't get his name on a plane.
''Just because a pilot's name is on the airplane, that does not mean that is the only pilot assigned to fly that airplane,'' said Brig. Gen. William Lake, 49th Fighter Wing commander, at a news conference earlier Sunday. ''We don't paint airplanes everytime someone different comes along.''
Dwelle, who never followed through on a plan to photograph himself with the fighter, said he misses the plane but is glad the pilot who crashed was rescued.
''Planes are replaceable,'' he said. ''Pilots are not.''
