NATO Bombs Elan Factory: Accidental Attack, "Just part of War," says US Official
4/1/99
by John Stouffer

The Elan snowboard factory in Furnitz, Austria was accidentally destroyed this morning by an out-of-control Tomahawk guided missile launched from a U.S. Navy warship in the Adriatic Sea, according to NATO spokesman, who commented under the condition of anonymity.

The factory, which produced boards for Forum, Sims, Nitro, Elan, and several other brands, was originally targeted because U.S. spy satellites believed the short, fat, round objects being produced inside looked like bombs.

Luckily, the attack happened late at night, and no one was hurt. The factory was going to start double shifts next week because of larger than expected orders for Forum, Sims, and Nitro products, and officials were afraid that production wouldn’t be able to meet demand this year. That could be a reality now.

The NATO attack entered its sixth day of trying to prevent Yugoslavia’s ethnic cleansing of the Kosovo state, which is populated by ethnic Albanians. The allies’ attack was initially focused on Yugoslavia’s key military infrastructure with the mission to destroy its potent military force and stop the killing of Albanians.

But with expanded targeting, industrial factories and warehouses are now being destroyed. Although the snowboard factory actually sits on the Austrian side of the Yugoslavian border, it has a sister factory that produces skis in Slovenia, which is an ally of Yugoslavia. After careful infrared analysis by U.S. military specialists, the skis produced at the Slovenian factory didn’t look like a threat, but the objects made at the snowboard factory did.

"The biggest tragedy of this is that we’re already running low on cruise missiles," said one U.S. military spokesperson. "Now we’ve wasted one destroying a bunch of snowboards when it could have killed a lot of people."

The Austrian Ski and Snowboard Industry Association (ASSES), lodged a formal complaint at the Hague International Court, demanding that the U.S. make instant reparations for the destruction of the Elan snowboard factory. After consulting with the SnowSports Industries America (SIA), the U.S. snowboard industry association, key U.S. officials are already in discussions with The France Group, Marker, and Morrow about the possibility of reopening their closed snowboard operations to produce the stricken brand’s boards with help of government subsidy.

"After several years of late shipments to retailers, I assure you that we will do whatever we can to make sure that Forum snowboards are delivered on time this year," said Travis Wood, marketing manager of Forum and Four Star Distribution. "If we have to build our own factory in San Clemente, we will."

"Although this was just part of war," says one U.S. official, "we want to make sure these snowboards are still produced in time for next winter. Hell, all my kid has been asking me for this year is a new snowboard. I was going to get him a nice gun, but I guess I’ll get him a snowboard like he wants."

Click Here for More News