![]() Some were destroyed by fire before they could open, and occasionally pilots faced the peril of being shot at by Entente fighters. The Heinecke chutes that German and Austro-Hungarian pilots received were not perfect and sometimes failed to operate safely. The extension of this courtesy to enemy pilots began towards the end of the First World War when parachutes were provided for pilots of fixed-wing aircraft, but it was again widely perceived that once aircrew were forced to bail out of a damaged aircraft, presuming they did not offer any further resistance, they were considered to have been honorably defeated in battle and should not be "finished off".īy July 1918, German and Austro-Hungarian Air Force parachute escapes had become routine. After shooting down a balloon, most pilots refrained from firing at the balloon observers as they escaped by parachute, because they felt it was inhumane and unchivalrous. Targeting parachutists became an issue during the First World War when fighter pilots targeted manned enemy observation balloons. Airborne troops are not protected by this Article. Upon reaching the ground in territory controlled by an adverse Party, a person who has parachuted from an aircraft in distress shall be given an opportunity to surrender before being made the object of attack, unless it is apparent that he is engaging in a hostile act. No person parachuting from an aircraft in distress shall be made the object of attack during his descent. In 1977, this practice was finally codified in Protocol I in addition to the 1949 Geneva Conventions: ġ. Persons other than those mentioned in the preceding sentence who are descending by parachute from disabled aircraft may not be fired upon. The law of war does not prohibit firing upon paratroops or other persons who are or appear to be bound upon hostile missions while such persons are descending by parachute. Paragraph 30 of the United States Army's Field Manual published by the Department of the Army, on 18 July 1956 (last modified on 15 July 1976), under the title "The Law of Land Warfare", states: However, despite this, military manuals around the world issued prohibitions on attacking enemy aircrew parachuting from aircraft in distress. In 1949, as a result of widespread practices and abuses committed during World War II, the newly modified and updated versions of the Geneva Conventions came into force providing greater protections to protected persons, but there was still no explicit prohibition on the shooting of parachuting enemy combatants outside of their airborne duties. There was no legal prohibition of targeting parachuting enemy airmen before or during World War II. The Hague Rules of Air Warfare never came into force. When an aircraft has been disabled, the occupants when endeavoring to escape by means of parachute must not be attacked in the course of their descent. Based on the testimony of First World War pilots, a commission of jurists attempted to codify this practice with the Hague Rules of Air Warfare. International law Īfter World War I, a series of meetings were held at The Hague in 1922–1923. Firing on airborne forces who are descending by parachute (i.e. The practice is widely considered to be inhumane and, consequently, such parachutists are considered hors de combat under the Protocol I addition to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, meaning that attacking them is a war crime. Attacks on parachutists, as defined by the law of war, occur when pilots, aircrew, and passengers are attacked while descending by parachute from disabled aircraft during wartime.
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