Pubdate: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: The Associated Press ERRORS LISTED IN DOWNING OF PERU PLANE WASHINGTON, July 31 (AP) -- An inquiry led by the State Department has found that the downing by Peru of a plane with American missionaries on board resulted from errors by Peruvians, Americans and the pilot, two officials said today. The report does not assign direct fault for the April 20 crash, which occurred after the plane had been initially mistaken for a drug flight by a surveillance plane operated by the Central Intelligence Agency and after a Peruvian military jet had fired on the smaller craft. A Baptist missionary, Veronica Bowers, and her 7-month-old daughter were killed. The pilot, Kevin Donaldson, was seriously wounded. A United States-Peru team led by Assistant Secretary of State Rand Beers has been seeking the cause of the accident. State Department officials briefed members of Congress privately on Monday. Family members were being notified separately. The report has not been released, but some findings were reported today in The Washington Post, which cited unidentified sources. Two officials familiar with the report discussed it with The Associated Press. One official said among the findings was that the plane had not followed a proper flight plan and that the pilot had not monitored the correct radio frequencies that would have allowed the Peruvian Air Force to contact it. The missionaries have repeatedly said they did nothing wrong. The officials said the report had also found that the Peruvians had failed to follow proper procedures to avoid an accidental downing and that they had disregarded warnings from the crew of the C.I.A.'s plane not to fire on the missionaries. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens