Banja Luka incident

Part of the Bosnian War and Operation Deny Flight

Date	28 February 1994
Location	southwest of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina 44°32′8.54″N 16°34′57.42″E / 44.5357056°N 16.5826167°E / 44.5357056; 16.5826167Coordinates: 44°32′8.54″N 16°34′57.42″E / 44.5357056°N 16.5826167°E / 44.5357056; 16.5826167
Result	NATO victory

Belligerents

Republika Srpska

NATO

United States

Strength

6 J-21 Jastrebs
2 J-22 Oraos

4+ F-16s

Casualties and losses

5 aircraft downed, but only 4 recognized by AFSOUTH, NATO & USAF
3 pilots KIA
1 wounded

none

NATO

The Banja Luka incident on 28 February 1994, was an incident in which six Republika Srpska Air Force J-21 Jastreb single-seat light attack jets were engaged, and four of them shot down, by United States Air Force F-16 fighters southwest of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the first active combat in NATO's history.

In February 1994, the 526th Fighter Squadron, "Black Knights", based out of Ramstein AB, Germany, was attached to the 401st Operations Group (Provisional) operating out of Aviano AB, Italy, as part of NATO's Operation Deny Flight. On Feb 28th, a flight of two 526th F-16s, "Knight 25" and "Knight 26", were crossing over Croatian airspace to conduct Close Air Support training near Sarajevo, Bosnia, when they detected six unidentified radar contacts eastbound in the No Fly Zone. These contacts were not immediately visible to the NATO AWACS aircraft flying over Hungarian territory because of distance and hilly terrain. After several minutes, AWACS was able to establish contact south of Banja Luka at 6:35 a.m. Two other 526th Squadron F-16s, Black 03 and Black 04,were vectored to the area and intercepted six J-21 Jastreb and two J-22 Orao aircraft which were bombing the "Bratstvo" military factory at Novi Travnik.

In accordance with the UN and NATO rules of engagement, orders to "land or exit the no-fly zone or be engaged" were issued twice, but both warnings were ignored. While warnings were issued, the violating aircraft dropped bombs over their target, which was left in flames. In such circumstances NATO has a "single key", meaning that only one clearance was needed, so the Combined Air Operations Center was immediately able to clear the F-16s to attack.

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Wikipedia