1984 FAA MEMO: DEPLETED URANIUM USED COMMONLY IN AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURE POSES SERIOUS HAZARD TO CRASH INVESTIGATORS

(c) COPYRIGHT 2001. FROM THE WILDERNESS PUBLICATIONS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. www.copvcia.com. 818-788-8791.

01/11/01 - As the scandal regarding the 1999 U.S. use of depleted uranium (DU) rounds in Kosovo spreads and re-ignites controversy about the Gulf War Syndrome that has damaged the health of thousands of veterans, "From The Wilderness" has today obtained a copy of a 1984 FAA Advisory Circular - still in effect - that shows that DU has been in use as a component in aircraft manufacture for years and that the U.S. government has always treated DU as a hazardous material in full awareness of health risks it presents. The existence of this advisory bulletin belies the official U.S. Government position that it was largely unaware of health risks connected with DU and raises questions about U.S. prioritization of the relative value of human lives as it becomes increasingly apparent that the United States Government chose to not advise NATO allies in Kosovo or Iraq, or even certain members of its own armed forces of known dangers connected with DU exposure. Moreover, the bulletin specifically indicates that U.S. aircraft manufacturers like McDonnell-Douglas, now owned by Boeing, routinely posted health advisory and safety precautions in aircraft manuals as far back as 16 years ago. This was, according to the FAA, a result of cadmium-plated DU being used as weights to balance "ailerons, rudders and elevators on certain jet aircraft and certain helicopters."

FAA Advisory Circular 20-123, dated 12/20/84 is entitled "Avoiding or Minimizing Encounters With Aircraft Equipped With Depleted Uranium Balance Weights During Accident Investigations." The two-page memo was written to warn FAA crash site investigators that, as a result of an air crash, DU weights in various parts of the aircraft might have had their cadmium plating removed. The memorandum states "While the depleted uranium normally poses no danger, it is to be handled with caution. The main hazard associated with depleted uranium is the harmful effect the material could have if it enters the body. If particles are inhaled or digested, they can be chemically toxic and cause a significant and long-lasting irradiation of internal tissue."

FAA spokesman Les Dorr today confirmed for FTW that the 1984 Advisory was valid and still in effect.

The memo also contains the somewhat ironic statement, "... only 'depleted' uranium is used, which means it has been processed to remove most of its uranium 235, the most highly radioactive form used in nuclear power plants."

The 1984 memorandum, written by FAA Director of Airworthiness, M.C. Beard, and circulated to all FAA crash site investigators, ends with a list of safety precautions for investigators at crash sites including protective gloves, eye protection, respirators and other protective clothing. The memorandum ends by stating that all such protective clothing should be discarded in containers labeled "radioactive waste" and disposed of accordingly.

A full copy of the FAA memorandum, including FAA verification of its authenticity can be found at the end of this document.

While the advisory itself does not specifically list which military or commercial aircraft are currently equipped with DU components FTW has contacted corporate spokespersons for the Boeing Aircraft Corporation in Seattle. As of this writing no response has been received.

The current revelation, along with developing stories on Sarin Gas and CNN's wrongful termination of producers April Oliver and Jack Smith as well as the U.S. Government's insistence on the use of the fungicide fusarium oxysporum in Colombia are strong indicators that charges that the Unites States has assumed an arrogant and careless posture with regard to human life are well founded. As the major media ignore or downplay the damning evidence of American guilty foreknowledge in the use of DU, European media and European military allies increasingly wonder whether the U.S. has assumed an Imperial posture in its dealings with the rest of the world. This would include its so-called NATO allies who were reportedly not warned of the dangers of DU use in either the Middle East or the Balkans. Such questions also give new credibility to continuing claims from U.S. Gulf War veterans that they were used as Guinea Pigs in a conflict where DU was a main staple of the U.S. military machine.

The FAA Advisory Circular was reported on by author journalist Craig Roberts ("The Medusa File")and disclosed in a casual e-mail on a list-serve discussion group this morning. FTW Publisher Mike Ruppert saw the e-mail and immediately notified Gulf War Vet Spokesperson Joyce Riley and French documentarians Audrey Brohy and Gerard Ungerman whose new documentary on the Gulf War, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm" will air throughout Europe on January 17. Both have done extensive research on DU and both found the existence of the FAA memorandum to be "devastating" to the official U.S. positions on the subject.

A more complete story will be published in the January 31, issue of FTW which will mail to paid subscribers only.

<click on images to enlarge>