"...Tico was hit by an SA·3. He had an uncorrelated missile launch on his radar warning receiver (RWR), and as he turned, he visually acquired the missile guiding on his aircraft from below. He timed his missile break turn, the missile overshot his aircraft and detonated behind him. Unfortunately, the miss distance was not sufficient to guarantee the safety of his aircraft, and Tico observed large, peeled-back holes on the surface of the jet with fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluid forming a smoke trail behind him.
While Tico was egressing, all the warning lights in his cockpit had illuminated, and he had no indication of airspeed, heading, or altitude. Fortunately, Capt. Bruce Crutch Cox was nearby, and the two of them formed a Flight as they headed south. As the two were egressing, Crutch received some very unusual radar warning indications. About that time the AWACS called bandits airborne and heading south out of Baghdad. The bandits in this case were MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters. Crutch pitched back to look at the source of the threat warning with his radar and saw that he was flying line abreast with one of the MiGs. As he turned into the MiG and locked onto it with his radar, it turned and ran. Since Crutch didn't have the fuel to chase him, he turned his attention back to helping Tico."
For years I'd been looking for AirForces Monthly's June 1992 article on the 401st TFW(P) and 614th TFS in the Gulf War. Several weeks ago (due to a lucky hit on eBay) I was able to aquire a copy, and I am now proud to be able to add it to our website.
In the article, AFM's Salvador Mafe Huertas writes up the most detailed accounting that I have seen of our unit's deployment, preperations for combat, first several days of missions, and the return of our POWs, Tico and Cujo, from Baghdad.
Mike Kopack
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