BERLIN -- A U.S. Air Force major general has dismissed all charges against Lt. Col. Randy May, the F-15 fighter pilot involved in the fatal downing of two U.S. Army helicopters over Iraq last spring, in one of the worst friendly fire cases in U.S. military history.


Maj. Gen. Eugene Santarelli, 17th Air Force Commander and the convening authority in the matter, based his decision on a recommendation made last month by the lead investigating officer in the case. The dismissal ends the possibility of criminal disciplinary actions against any of the Europe-based U.S. Air Force personnel who were involved in the incident.


May, 41, had been charged with 26 counts of negligent homicide for his role in the shoot down, in which 26 people -- everybody on the two helicopters -- were killed. He was also charged with two counts of dereliction of duty.


A member of the Germany-based 53rd Fighter Squadron, May was assigned to patrol the air space over northern Iraq in an effort to enforce a UN-ordered ban on Iraqi military flights there. He and his lead pilot, Capt. Eric Wickson, spotted two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters April 14, mistook them for Iraqi Hinds and shot them down.


Initial investigations suggested May had failed to respond correctly when lead pilot Wickson asked him to confirm that the helicopters were Iraqi. But the Air Force said Tuesday that Santarelli dismissed the charges because May had "followed proper procedures in yielding control of the action to his lead pilot."