Reply #24: Jackson may have been onboard the plan [View All]

to seize Pristina ahead of the Russians initially, but was thwarted by a snafu involving a cargo plane crash. Here's a bit of speculation in a UK Sunday Times reprint:

"A secret mission by British SAS troops to beat the Russians to Pristina airport on the night before Nato's liberation of Kosovo ended in disaster when their Hercules transport plane crashed on takeoff in northern Albania, sources in the province have revealed.

General Sir Mike Jackson, former commander of the Nato-led Kfor troops, has always said he wanted to avoid confrontation with the Russians. But the doomed SAS mission suggests he was prepared to fly two squads of elite troops into a risky operation with unpredictable results.

...

Officials in Pristina say the mission fell within Jackson's overall plan for SAS troops to secure all points of entry into Kosovo. One said an explosive row between Jackson and Clark - in which Jackson famously said "it's not worth starting world war three" for control of Pristina airport - could have been avoided had the SAS reached it first.

http://www.aeronautics.ru/nws001/thetimes005.htm