When Peru mistook missionaries for drug traffickers
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 June 2021
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In April 2001 the Peruvian Air Force mistakenly shot down a small passenger plane as it flew over the Amazon jungle. The Peruvians believed the aircraft was carrying drugs. Onboard was a group of American missionaries. Mike Lanchin spoke to Jim Bowers, who survived the crash, but whose wife and baby daughter were killed.
This programme is a rebroadcast
Photo: The missionary plane shot down by the Peruvian Air Force lies in shallow waters of the Amazon River. (Photo by Newsmakers)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless |
| 0:06.8 | searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the |
| 0:11.8 | telly we share what we've been watching |
| 0:14.0 | Cladie Aide. |
| 0:16.0 | Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming. |
| 0:19.0 | Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige. |
| 0:21.0 | And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less |
| 0:24.9 | searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds. Hello and welcome to the Witness History Podcast on the BBC World Service, |
| 0:39.1 | first-hand accounts of events that have shaped our world. |
| 0:42.0 | I'm Mike Lanchin. Today I'm bringing you a program |
| 0:45.0 | from our archives. It was back in 2001 that the Peruvian Air Force shot down a small civilian |
| 0:52.0 | passenger plane over the Amazon jungle in the mistaken belief that it was trafficking drugs. |
| 0:58.0 | I spoke to one of the passengers who survived, Jim Bowers, whose wife and baby daughter were killed in the tragic incident. |
| 1:07.0 | It's a cloudy grey morning on April the 20th, 2001, and a tiny white Cessna passenger plane |
| 1:18.9 | is weeding its way slowly over the Amazon jungle, along the border separating Peru and Brazil. |
| 1:25.0 | On board are three adults and two small children. |
| 1:29.0 | I was sitting in the front with Kevin. |
| 1:33.0 | Ronnie and Corey sit in the back. |
| 1:34.4 | Charity was on Ronnie's lap, but nothing was out of the ordinary. |
| 1:37.1 | It's very normal day. |
| 1:38.1 | That's Jim Bowers, an American Christian missionary. |
| 1:44.0 | On that day he was flying back home to Peru where he lived with his wife, Veronica, or Ronnie, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

