1984 Joateca Bell UH-1 bombing

Helicopter bombed by the FMLN in El Salvador in 1984 January 2025 January 2025 1984 Joateca Bell UH-1 bombing 249 Bell UH-1H Iroquois El Salvador Air Force (7485709166).jpg A Bell UH-1H of the Salvadoran Air Force, similar to the one involved in the bombing Bombing 1984 10 23 y In-flight bombing and crash Joateca, Morazán, El Salvador 13 53 58 N 88 03 02 W region:SV inline,header Bell UH-1H Salvadoran Air Force 284 Joateca, El Salvador Los Comandos Airport, San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador 14 11 3 14 (all) 0 On 23 October 1984, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) bombed a Bell UH-1H of the Salvadoran Air Force in Joateca, El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War. The bombing killed all 14 occupants on board the helicopter, including Salvadoran lieutenant colonel Domingo Monterrosa who commanded the American-trained Atlácatl Battalion. The FMLN planted dynamite inside of a radio transmitter that they portrayed as being the primary transmitter for Radio Venceremos, a radio station that the FMLN operated. Monterrosa sought to capture the transmitter as a war trophy, and the dynamite detonated as the helicopter climbed 1000 ft m in altitude. The Salvadoran military claimed that the helicopter crashed due to a mechanical failure while the FMLN claimed that it had shot down the aircraft with heavy machine gun fire. One month after the crash, the Salvadoran military determined that a bomb took down the helicopter. Background Domingo Monterrosa In December 1981, Salvadoran lieutenant colonel Domingo Monterrosa ordered soldiers of the Atlácatl Battalion to indiscriminately kill civilians in the village of El Mozote in the Arambala municipality of the Morazán Department. The massacre killed over 1,000 people.Review: Politics and Publishing in Transition in El Salvador en 1995 John L. Hammond Latin American Research Review Latin American Studies Association 30 3 210-223 10.1017/S0023879100017623 2503988214 Morazán was one of the strongholds of the rebel Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in eastern El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992).https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/10/24/key-salvadoran-commanders-killed-in-copter-crash/00aa3259-5225-4191-ad1b-2bdd2085e395/ Key Salvadoran Commanders Killed In Copter Crash en 24 October 1984 2 January 2024 The Washington Post Loren Jenkins Robert J. McCartney subscription When Monterrosa was promoted to command the Salvadoran Army's 3rd Brigade in 1984, the FMLN listed him as a high priority target to have killed. The FMLN's primary motivation to kill Monterrosa was because his promotion made him the Salvadoran Army's most senior military commander in eastern El Salvador, and the FMLN saw Monterrosa as their biggest threat.https://math.dartmouth.edu/~lamperti/Trojan_Horse.html The Trojan Horse en 2 January 2025 Dartmouth College John Lamperti The FMLN also wanted to avenge the victims of the El Mozote massacre three years prior.214 Radio Venceremos thumb|right|The original Radio Venceremos transmitter at the Museum of the Revolution in Perquín, El Salvador One of Monterrosa's obsessions during the civil war was to capture the primary radio transmitter that the FMLN used to broadcast Radio Venceremos, a radio station that it used to denounce the Salvadoran government's war crimes and spread pro-FMLN propaganda. Radio Venceremos was operated under territory that Monterrosa claimed he controlled in Morazán, and he sought to capture the transmitter as a war trophy. Bombing Army captures disguised bomb On 23 October 1984, the People's Revolutionary Army (one of the groups that composed the FMLN) coaxed government soldiers into a skirmish near Joateca, Morazán.Specters of War: The Battle of Mourning in Post-Conflict Central America Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: Memorialization in Post-Conflict Central America Ignacio Sarmiento 2025 University of Arizona Press Tucson, Arizona 10.2307/jj.24900058 jj.24900058.6 9780816554294 1466097851 25–8651 The FMLN retreated and appeared to abandon the primary transmitter for Radio Venceremos which was subsequently captured by the Salvadoran Army.214 Instead, the rebels had planted 8 sticks of dynamite into a spare radio transmitter previously used for Radio Venceremos and intentionally allowed the army to capture it in the hopes that it would kill Monterrosa himself.214–215 The dynamite was rigged to detonate if it climbed 1000 ft m in altitude. The rigged transmitter's capture occurred during Operation Torola 4, a helicopter assault on FMLN positions in Morazán that was commanded by Monterrosa.https://time.com/archive/6700142/el-salvador-setback-in-the-skies/ El Salvador: Setback in the Skies en 5 November 1984 2 January 2025 TimeAfter La Palma, The War Keeps Raging en 7 November 1984 The Guardian Robert Armstrong 1–24 community.38371899 free 2243323 0017-5021 New York City, United States 37 67 Monterrosa celebrated the capture of the transmitter. He, some military officers, and journalists flew to Joateca to retrieve it. In an interview, Monterrosa stated that "the myth of Morazán is over", in reference to the Radio Venceremos transmitter.214 Monterrosa invited domestic and foreign news outlets to view the captured transmitter in San Miguel. The FMLN ceased broadcasts of Radio Venceremos while the Salvadoran Army had the rigged transmitter in their possession leading the Armed Forces of El Salvador and press to believe that Radio Venceremos had actually been captured. Flight and crash On 23 October 1984, Monterrosa boarded a Salvadoran Air Force-owned Bell UH-1H (numbered 284)https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/121976 23 October 1984 Salvadoran Air Force Helicopter Crash en 2 January 2025 Aviation Safety Network along with the rigged radio transmitter at Joateca, and the flight would transport them to San Francisco Gotera, the capital of Morazán. The bomb exploded shortly after takeoff around 4:50 p.m. CST.https://diario.elmundo.sv/Nacionales/la-polemica-persigue-a-domingo-monterrosa-en-otro-aniversario-de-su-muerte La Polémica Persigue a Domingo Monterrosa en Otro Aniversario de Su Muerte Controversy Follows Domingo Monterrosa on Another Anniversary of His Death es 23 October 2020 14 June 2025 El Mundo Álvaro Cruz Rojas The explosion killed all 14 people on board the helicopter and it crashed near the El Salvador–Honduras border. Among those killed included Monterrosa, Lieutenant Colonel Napoleón Herson Calitto (commander of the Morazán garrison), Major Armando Azmitia (Monterrosa's successor as commander of the Atlácatl Battalion), Major Nelson Alejandro Rivas, three pilots with the rank of sub-lieutenant, two artillery soldiers, three members of the Armed Forces Press Committee, one priest, and one sacristan.https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/24/world/army-commander-in-salvador-dies-in-copter-crash.html Army Commander in Salvador Dies in Copter Crash en 24 October 1984 2 January 2025 The New York Times James Lemoyne 1https://www.elsalvador.com/fotogalerias/noticias-fotogalerias/coronel-domingo-monterrosa-muerte-guerra-civil-salvadorena/1098613/2023/ Un Día Como Hoy, Pero en 1984, Murió Domingo Monterrosa A Day Like This, But in 1984, Domingo Monterrosa Died es 23 October 2023 2 January 2025 El Diario de Hoy Monterrosa was last seen sitting on top of the rigged transmitter as the helicopter took off.https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/28/Army-helicopter-reported-downed-by-guerrilla-bomb/4961470466000/ Army Helicopter Reported Downed by Guerrilla Bomb en 28 November 1984 2 January 2025 United Press International Michael W. Drudge San Salvador, El Salvadorhttps://www.contrapunto.com.sv/atentado-contra-el-coronel-monterrosa-una-conspiracion-planificada-v-parte-y-final/ Atentado Contra el Coronel Monterrosa. Una Conspiración Planificada (V Parte y Final) Assassination of Colonel Monterrosa: A Planned Conspiracy (Part V and Finale) es 16 November 2022 14 June 2025 Contra Punto Marcial Vela Ramos A helicopter that was evacuating medical personnel from Perquín was diverted by the 3rd Brigade to the scene of the crash. Another helicopter arrived from the Ilopango Air Base and evacuated them from the area. The Salvadoran military guarded the crash site to ensure that the FMLN could not plant explosives inside the wreckage. Aftermath Investigation thumb|right|The wreckage of the destroyed helicopter at the Museum of the Revolution in Perquín, El Salvador The day after the crash, Salvadoran president José Napoleón Duarte called for an investigation to determine whether the crash was caused by a mechanical failure or by an FMLN attack. Duarte and the Salvadoran military believed that the crash was "almost certainly" caused by a "mechanical failure" as three army officers stated that the helicopter's pilot reported that it was experiencing a mechanical problem prior to the crash.https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/10/25/salvadoran-president-orders-probe-of-crash-that-killed-key-officers/fa654118-ffe4-469c-be1a-eb80e1859792/ Salvadoran President Orders Probe Of Crash That Killed Key Officers en 24 October 1984 2 January 2025 The Washington Post Loren Jenkins Robert J. McCartney San Salvador, El Salvador subscription Meanwhile, the FMLN claimed that it had shot down the helicopter with a heavy machine gun, that they struck the rotors and gas tank causing the helicopter to explode. The FMLN's claim was made over renewed Radio Venceremos broadcasts.https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/23/A-US-made-helicopter-crashed-in-a-rebel-dominated-province-Tuesday/8915467352000/ A U.S.-Made Helicopter Crashed in a Rebel-Dominated Province Tuesday,... en 23 October 1984 2 January 2024 United Press International Michael W. Drudge San Salvador, El Salvador Military investigators found the helicopter's primary rotor completely detached from the fuselage. They found that parts of the fuselage under the rotor had "black powder residue" ("es residuos de pólvora negra") consistent with signs of an explosion. Investigators initially determined that the explosion occurred in the "hell hole" in the lower portion of the helicopter. By late November 1984, the Salvadoran military officially determined that a bomb brought down the helicopter due to damage patterns on the helicopter and the conditions of the bodies recovered.https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/28/world/bomb-suspected-in-salvadoran-crash.html Bomb Suspected in Salvadoran Crash en 28 November 2024 2 January 2024 The New York Times James Lemoyne 3 Reactions FMLN commander Joaquín Villalobos stated that "We aren't going to celebrate the death of a man. We're going to celebrate the people who'll live now that he's gone!" He further added that Monterrosa was killed in revenge for the El Mozote massacre.https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/24/Monterrosa-I-am-a-warrior/4808467438400/ Monterrosa: 'I Am a Warrior' en 24 October 1984 2 January 2025 United Press International Michael W. Drudge San Salvador, El Salvador The Armed Forces of El Salvador began referring to those killing in the bombing as "the Heroes of Joateca" ("es los Héroes de Joateca"). The 3rd Brigade was named after Monterrosa until 2019 when President Nayib Bukele ordered his name to be removed from the unit due to the controversy regarding Monterrosa's human rights abuses.https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/Borran-el-nombre-de-Domingo-Monterrosa-en-la-Tercera-Brigada-20190602-0359.html Borran el Nombre de Domingo Monterrosa en la Tercera Brigada They Erase the Name of Domingo Monterrosa in the Third Brigade es 3 June 2019 14 June 2025 La Prensa Gráfica Héctor Rivas Melissa Pacheco An official from the United States embassy in San Salvador stated that the helicopter crash and Monterrosa's death were a "major setback for El Salvador [...] It happened just when things seemed to be going well." The Salvadoran Army named Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Méndez as Monterrosa's successor as overall commander in eastern El Salvador. Monterrosa's funeral was held in San Salvador, El Salvador's capital city, on 27 October 1984.https://auislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/auislandora%3A96162/ Funeral For Salvadoran Army Lt. Col. Domingo Monterrosa en 27 October 1984 2 January 2025 American University Digital Research Archive Robert Nickelsberg https://web.archive.org/web/20250103024326/https://auislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/auislandora%3A96162/ 3 January 2025 dead Wreckage The wreckage of Monterrosa's bombed Bell UH-1H is located at the Museum of the Revolution in Perquín along with the wreckages of four other helicopters.49–51https://www.elsalvador.com/fotogalerias/noticias-fotogalerias/domingo-monterrosa-muerte-tras-atentado-en-morazan/1010218/2022/ Fotos: Domingo Monterrosa a 38 Años de Su Muerte Tras Atentado en Helicóptero Photos: Domingo Monterrosa 38 Years After His Death After a Helicopter Attack es 25 October 2022 2 January 2024 El Diario de Hoy Yessica Hompanera Author Ignacio Sarmiento described the wreckage as a war trophy for the FMLN.51 See also Bell UH-1 Iroquois in Salvadoran service List of accidents and incidents involving helicopters References External links Video of Domingo Monterrosa's funeral from the Associated Press Aviation El Salvador Category:1984 in El Salvador Category:Accidents and incidents involving military helicopters Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1984 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in El Salvador Category:Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 1984 Category:Salvadoran Civil War Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Bell UH-1 Iroquois