The United States, Britain and Canada have agreed to join West Germany in suspending all low-level jet fighter training over West Germany for the next three weeks, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
The suspension follows last week's fiery crash of a U.S. warplane in the German city of Remscheid, in which five people were killed and dozens injured."The suspension will remain in effect until Jan. 2, 1989, at which point fighter training will resume," the Pentagon said in releasing a joint communique from the four NATO allies.
The suspension, "through the holiday season, (was agreed to) out of respect for the victims and the families of the victims of the Remscheid accident, and for Capt. Michael Foster, USAF, and his family," the statement added.
Foster, 34, of Seal Beach, Calif., was the pilot of the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet that crashed in Remscheid, destroying two dozen homes. The accident occurred on Dec. 8 and immediately generated new demands in West Germany for curbs on NATO flights.