The Jets Roar In

The first attack came without warning. A pair of Cuban MiG-21 fighters swooped down on the 103-ft. patrol vessel Flamingo, one of the largest ships in the Bahama defense force fleet, as it was towing two Cuban fishing boats that had been seized for poaching stone crab and conch near the tiny, uninhabited Bahamian island of Santo Domingo Cay. The two jets raked the lightly armed Flamingo with 23-mm cannons, then returned 45 minutes later and sank the vessel with two rocket salvos. As the Bahamian sailors bobbed helplessly in the water, the MiGs roared in low and strafed them. Four of the 19 Flamingo crewmen were missing.

The survivors climbed aboard one of the Cuban fishing boats and landed at the village of Duncan Town on Ragged Island, where the eight Cuban fishermen were promptly jailed. The next day, two Cuban MiGs repeatedly swept low over the settlement, terrifying the residents. A Cuban helicopter carrying soldiers touched down briefly near the town. All the Cuban aircraft then flew off, having made the intended point: Bahama had better release the fishermen. The Castro government later claimed that the Flamingo had been mistaken for "a pirate ship." Bahama's Prime Minister Lynden Pindling scoffed at that excuse, noting that the Flamingo had been flying two Bahamian flags and was easily identifiable as a naval vessel. Said Pindling: "Our boats don't fly the Jolly Roger."

As the search for the missing Flamingo crewmen continued, the U.S. Coast Guard kept the Cuban border guard informed of U.S. participants, including Coast Guard Helicopter CG1438. The crew of 1438 was startled when two Cuban MiGs roared in on the helicopter and made three dangerously close passes. The first two came within 100 yds. of the U.S. craft. On the third pass a MiG zoomed a mere 50 ft. under the helicopter, which was only 300 ft. above the water. The MiG pilot then fired his afterburner, causing the chopper to shake and its crew to tremble. From Key West Naval Air Station, two Marine F-4 fighter planes scrambled to come to the chopper's rescue, but by the time they arrived the Cuban MiGs were gone. The action by the Cuban pilots was denounced by the Pentagon as "extremely dangerous" and "blatant harassment."

After the incident, the Navy pointedly revealed that it has for some time been quietly building up its ability to counter any such provocative Cuban air tactics. Twenty electronic warfare planes equipped to intercept Cuban military communications have been moved to Key West. So too have ten A-4 attack jets, which were ready to help the U.S. helicopter if needed. Seven more Navy fighters will soon be sent to Key West, just ten minutes by air from Havana.

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