According to officials, the U.S. stopped alerting Peru to suspected drug flights seven years ago, out of concern that Peru could kill innocent people by shooting at planes. Cooperation resumed in December of 1994 when the U.S. Congress developed safeguards to prevent unintentional shootings and granted immunity to Americans.

U.S. officials want to know why those safeguards didn't protect a plane full of American missionaries. The plane was shot down last week in Peru, killing a woman and her daughter. Officials said a CIA surveillance plane had identified the plane as a possible drug flight.

"My thought when I turned on the news was that this was an accident waiting to happen," said Walter Dellinger, who as assistant attorney general in 1994 warned that U.S. officials could be held liable in such a shooting.

Under current policy, the United States sends planes operated by government agencies or contractors to search for suspicious flights. These planes alert Peru's military, which can pursue drug flights and shoot them down if warranted.

The procedure has been successful in significantly reducing Peru's production of coca, the raw material for cocaine. "It's a very strict policy, and, to be frank, a very successful policy of restricting drug trafficking -- a shoot-first, ask-questions-later policy," said Sen. Lincoln Chaffee (R-R.I.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Western Hemisphere subcommittee.

Under the safeguards established by Congress, before shooting down a plane the Peruvian air force must try to identify it, determine if it had a flight plan, use radio and hand signals to communicate with the pilot, gesture for it to land and, with permission from a commander, fire warning shots.

"I think we were satisfied that while there was always a risk, the procedures, if they were followed, would prevent accidents," said Walter B. Slocomb, former Defense undersecretary for policy. "The question in this missionaries' case is, if the procedures were not followed, then why weren't they followed?"

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