Miami jury finds Cubans guilty in 1996 shootdown | Aviation International News

Miami jury finds Cubans guilty in 1996 shootdown

Last month a Miami jury found Gernando Hernandez, a Cuban agent, guilty of conspiracy to murder in the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed, civilian airplanes fl

By AIN Staff • AIN Staff

May 21, 2008

Last month a Miami jury found Gernando Hernandez, a Cuban agent, guilty of conspiracy to murder in the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed, civilian airplanes flown by Cuban exiles. Hernandez and four others were also found guilty of separate offenses related to spying.

The incident involving two Cessna 337s flown by Brothers to the Rescue occurred in February 1996. Volunteer members of the exile group had been operating outside Cuban national waters, searching for rafters seeking to escape Cuba, when they were intercepted by Cuban MiGs. Killed when the airplanes were shot down were pilots Carlos Costa and Mario de la Pena and observers Armando Alejandre and Pablo Morales.

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