Capturing the News: Three Decades of Reporting Crisis and Conflict

Chapter Four: Line of Death

49 Chapter Four Line of Death They called it the Line of Death. It was an imaginary line drawn on the map by Colonel Muammar elQaddafi , the Libyan leader. The line went across the mouth of the 150,000square -mile Gulf of Sidra, a huge indentation in the coastline of Libya.Although the area south of the line was clearly in international air and sea space, Qaddafi claimed it as Libyan. He said that any plane or ship that crossed that line would be attacked. Calling his bluff, the United States sent an armada including three aircraft carriers into that portion of the western Mediterranean and made it clear that it intended to enforce its right to enter international waters and airspace. Newspaper commentators envisioned U.S. and Libyan warplanes in deadly dogfights, and there were fears of a wider war. So when I was told that CNN and three other networks—CBS, NBC, and Independent News Network—had decided to jointly charter a plane and fly to the area near the Line of Death, I thought that was a good idea. I had no idea how dangerous it was. I should have, but I didn’t. Perhaps I was too focused on how we would do the story, what elements we would shoot, how we would get the footage to Atlanta. It seemed like a great story. On Tuesday morning, March 25, 1986, the Cessna Citation charter plane was waiting for us at Ciampino, one of Rome’s airports. Mark Phillips, a fine correspondent for CBS, a man with a mustache and a wry sense of humor (he once did a standup in front of an aquarium full of sharks for a story about lawyers), accompanied me and our camera crew aboard the small twin-engine jet. We took off and headed south high above the Mediterranean. After flying for a while we saw, far below us like a toy boat in a bathtub, the USS America. Our camera operator got shots of the aircraft carrier. There were other American warships nearby. Suddenly a jet fighter plane appeared off our right side. We could see that it was a U.S. Navy interceptor, from the carrier, with air-to-air missiles mounted 50 Overseas under its wings. The plane was very close. Its wingtip appeared to be almost touching the tip of ours. Mark and I, peering through our window, could see the American pilot in his helmet. He was speaking and making hand signals. “He’s giving us his radio frequency,” our pilot said. Our pilot tuned in and put the sound on a loudspeaker so we could hear. “Who are you?” the Navy pilot asked. “Charter from Rome. American television,” our pilot said. To which the Navy pilot replied, in chilling words: “I suggest you stay well away.” He was making it clear that he had orders to keep all non-Navy planes away from the carrier, and would use force if he had to. Then he soared up and away in a hard right banking turn. We didn’t need any more convincing. We decided to heed his advice and stay well away. Three U.S. Navy jets escorted us back toward Italy. When we returned to Ciampino with our aerial footage of the American aircraft carrier and the Navy jet that had flown so close to us, I used the airport pay phone to call Atlanta.A CNN producer immediately put me on the air, and I gave a quick report on the U.S. Navy’s presence near the Line of Death. Then I went to the CNN bureau on Via dei Robilant and worked with our video editor to put together a complete package that we fed by satellite to Atlanta. Our adventure became a news item itself. The Washington Post headlined: “The Networks’ Libyan Fly-By; Plane Escorted From Combat Zone.” The story referred to our flight as “a bit of daring that made even some war correspondents shudder with concern.”It added:“Network and government sources said that besides the worry that U.S. forces might mistake a small plane for a new form of Libyan kamikaze, there was also considerable concern that Libyan planes and missiles could find the slower twin-engine plane a more attractive target than the American military jets.” When I read this, I realized that I had had no real idea how dangerous our flight was. Dangerous, yes. But was it worth it? I think so...