Reuters | Pilot in Canada deaths opts out of court-martial

"Schmidt, 38, faced a dereliction of duty charge for dropping a 500-pound bomb on Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry unit on April 17, 2002, near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

He and flight leader Maj. Harry Umbach, flying in separate F-16s at night, mistook a night anti-tank exercise by the unit for enemy fire.

Despite radioed instructions to hold fire, Schmidt told flight controllers he was 'rolling in, in self defense' and let fly with the bomb.

Four Canadians died and eight were wounded in the incident that strained U.S.-Canadian relations.

Schmidt and Umbach apologized for the accident, but blamed it on the 'fog of war' and the Air Force's practice of giving pilots amphetamines to stay alert."

Not much accountability under these circumstances.