1984 Joateca Bell UH-1 bombing

On 23 October 1984, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) bombed a Bell UH-1H of the Salvadoran Air Force in Joateca, El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War. The bombing killed all 14 occupants on board the helicopter, including Salvadoran lieutenant colonel Domingo Monterrosa who commanded the American-trained Atlácatl Battalion.

The FMLN planted dynamite inside of a radio transmitter that they portrayed as being the primary transmitter for Radio Venceremos, a radio station that the FMLN operated. Monterrosa sought to capture the transmitter as a war trophy, and the dynamite detonated as the helicopter climbed 1000 ft in altitude. The Salvadoran military claimed that the helicopter crashed due to a mechanical failure while the FMLN claimed that it had shot down the aircraft with heavy machine gun fire. One month after the crash, the Salvadoran military determined that a bomb took down the helicopter.

Flight and crash

On 23 October 1984, Monterrosa boarded a Salvadoran Air Force-owned Bell UH-1H (numbered 284) along with the rigged radio transmitter at Joateca, and the flight would transport them to San Francisco Gotera, the capital of Morazán. The bomb exploded shortly after takeoff around 4:50 p.m. CST. The explosion killed all 14 people on board the helicopter and it crashed near the El Salvador–Honduras border. Among those killed included Monterrosa, Lieutenant Colonel Napoleón Herson Calitto (commander of the Morazán garrison), Major Armando Azmitia (Monterrosa's successor as commander of the Atlácatl Battalion), Major Nelson Alejandro Rivas, three pilots with the rank of sub-lieutenant, two artillery soldiers, three members of the Armed Forces Press Committee, one priest, and one sacristan. Monterrosa was last seen sitting on top of the rigged transmitter as the helicopter took off.

A helicopter that was evacuating medical personnel from Perquín was diverted by the 3rd Brigade to the scene of the crash. Another helicopter arrived from the Ilopango Air Base and evacuated them from the area. The Salvadoran military guarded the crash site to ensure that the FMLN could not plant explosives inside the wreckage.