February 04, 2010 10:34am

DRAMATIC video has emerged showing a bungled CIA drug operation that led to Peruvian fighter jets shooting down a light plane carrying American missionaries.

The disturbing 2001 surveillance plane footage, aired on America's ABC News, shows the Peruvian fighters opening fire on a floatplane being shadowed by a CIA aircraft.

The fighters opened up on the missionary flight despite CIA officers having serious concerns about whether or not the plane they were following was carrying drugs.

The ABC report on a CIA cover-up of the tragedy said that the pilot of the floatplane carrying a family of US missionaries, the Bowers, had been on a different radio frequency to that being used by the Peruvian fighters and did not hear their warning.

The footage shows that when the pilot realised military jets were targeting him, he issued a desperate plea to air traffic control - but the jets opened fire anyway, despite voice recordings from the CIA plane showing those on board had serious doubts that they were following a drug flight.

The light plane crash landed in a river and two of those on board, Veronica Bowers and her daughter Charity, were dead from bullet wounds.

The pilot was wounded in both legs, ABC reported.

For more on this story, visit ABC News.