 While the flight approached northern Celebes, a group of Mitsubishi F1M "Pete" that was covering the naval invasion force mistakenly attacked them, shooting down a G3M and killing all 12 paras aboard.To prevent further friendly fire incident, Mitsubishi Zero fighters from the carrier "Zuiho" escorted the flight until it reached the drop zone.In due course, the 1st Group began dropping over Langoan at 09