Plane Downed by Wedding Party Fire(See, Afghanistan is now Justified) [View All]

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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_=789d7da916eb63af&pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1065956540582&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724



FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro — In an apparent first, wedding guests shooting off
celebratory rounds in central Serbia brought down a small aircraft, local media reported
today.

The FoNet news agency reported that the plane's pilot and a passenger were seriously injured
Friday after their single-engine Utva-75 plane crashed into a high-voltage power line in the
village of Ratina, some 160 kilometres west of Belgrade.

"Shortly before the crash I saw the plane flying at a very low altitude over a wedding party
when guests started firing their handguns and other weapons," witness Zoran Vukadinovic
told FoNet. The left wing of the aircraft subsequently caught fire, and the plane crashed, he
said.

Shootings and fatalities are frequent at Serbian weddings because of the centuries-long
tradition of blasting away with firearms in celebration. It was the first known reported case,
however, of an aircraft being brought down by trigger-happy partygoers.