A puff of smoke, and then chaos at 4,000 feet

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2001 | by Jack Kelley

Missionary worker Jim Bowers peered uneasily out the front passenger window of a Cessna 185 floatplane. To his right: a Peruvian air force fighter jet. It had been tailing the Cessna for about 15 minutes.

Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke from the fighter. Bullets pierced the missionary plane in machine-gun fashion. The jet flew under the Cessna, reappeared on its left and fired again.

A bullet hit the Cessna's left wing, where fuel was stored. A fire erupted and rushed through the fuel line into the plane. Flames shot up from the floor of the cockpit, engulfing pilot Kevin Donaldson's feet. A bullet struck his right leg, shattering two bones.

Sitting next to Donaldson, Bowers felt the breeze of a bullet speeding past him. He handed his infant daughter,...