Summary: A U.S. Marines plane on a low-level flying mission in northern Italy cut the wire supporting a cable car on its way down from a ski resort on Cermis Mountain. All twenty passengers, including the cable car operator, perished when the gondola plunged 260 feet to the mountain below, where it was smashed flat. Each of the four men manning the plane was initially charged with negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter, but only the two men actually flying the plane were court-martialed. Over the course of the trial, it was found that the plane was flying at speeds in excess of 500 miles per hour--faster than military regulations allow--when it hit the cable car wire. The cable car wire hung at 260 feet, over 700 feet below the military-approved altitude of 1,000 feet. Additionally, it came out in the trial that the military-issued map that the pilots were using did not show the cable car. With a decision that enraged the Italian government, both men were acquitted--only to be court-martialed a second time when it was discovered that they destroyed a videotape that had been recording from the plane on the day that the cable car wire was clipped. Both men were found guilty of obstruction of justice and dismissed from the marines; the pilot served six months in prison.

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Details: The flight crew manning the U.S. Marines EA-6B Grumman Prowler plane on a low-level flight training mission had never flown through the Cermis Mountain-area of the Alps. According to one pilot, the crew didn't realize what had happened when the plane's wingtip snapped the wire supporting a cable car on its way down from a ski resort near the northern Italy town of Cavalese. As the cable dangled uselessly, the gondola plummeted 260 feet into the mountainside below, killing all twenty passengers on board. Followed closely by the several-ton hook that held the gondola to the cable, it was crushed nearly flat. On board were ten men, nine women, and one child, most of them foreigners vacationing in Italy. The nature of the victims' injuries made it nearly impossible to identify the bodies, and authorities often had to rely on ski passes and personal effects found at the scene of the accident. A second cable car was left dangling, but all passengers were safely evacuated.

There were four men on the plane: Marine pilot Capt. Richard Ashby, flight navigator Marine Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, and two others who were manning the rear--Capt. William Raney II, and Capt. Chandler Seagraves. Interestingly, this crew had maintained an excellent flight record, with no accidents since their first flight in 1984--together, they had flown over 60,000 flights. All four crewmembers were initially charged with negligent homicide, involuntary manslaughter, dereliction of duty, damage to military property, and damage to private property. Ashby and Schweitzer were both court-martialed, while the two other crew members' charges were ultimately dismissed. Both Ashby and Schweitzer were charged with twenty counts of negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter--one for each death. If either man was found guilty on all counts, he would face a hefty 200-year sentence.

Discrepancies plagued Ashby's court-martial. Although the flight path the crew took that day was approved, the map they used was a Pentagon-issued version that did not show the cable cars--similar military maps issued by Italy did include the cable cars. Ashby purportedly broke both altitude and speed rules during the flight, flying both too fast (in excess of 500 and sometimes 600 miles per hour) and too low. The cable, at the point which it was clipped, hung at 270 feet--well below the U.S. military-approved altitude of 1000 feet. Ashby testified, however, that his altimeter and an alarm--set to go off when the jet flew below 800 feet--were both malfunctioning that day. Later tests showed that the plane's altimeter was working. The crew had apparently been informed of altitude restrictions in meetings and via email prior to the flight, and the rules governing altitude were printed again in a manual inside the plane. Still, the four men held that their directions regarding altitude were "handed down" to them in a confusing manner. Additionally, it was found that directly before the jet dipped into the valley where the cable car was, Ashby performed a 360-degree corkscrew-type roll, which according to witnesses during the court-martial can cause a pilot to lose altitude quickly and become disoriented. Flying inside the valley, it was also possible that Ashby was affected by an optical illusion: unable to see the horizon, and surrounded by static mountain scenery, his surroundings may have caused him to misjudge his speed and altitude.

In a decision that enraged the Italian government and citizens, Ashby and Schweitzer were both acquitted. They faced a second court-martial, however, this time charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice for taking and destroying a videotape from a video camera that was brought aboard the flight that day. The tape contained a recording of the first part of the training mission, although Ashby and Schweitzer both testified that the recording was stopped before the jet struck the cables.

Ashby was found guilty of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice, dismissed from the marines and sentenced to six months in prison. Schweitzer was also found guilty, and dismissed from the marines. The U.S. has yet to offer any compensation to the victims' families, although reimbursement of the Italian government was made for 75 percent of claims filed by the victims' families. An act of Congress to set aside $40 million for compensation of the victims' families was tabled in 1998.

In the long run, the incident strained relations between Italy and America, with threats from the angered Italian government to halt all U.S. military operations in Italy. Many Italians hold that the other two crewmembers should not have been acquitted, and that the U.S. should pay the families of the victims. Interestingly, there have been over thirty incidences of military jets (including Italian jets) cutting power lines during low-altitude training in northern Italy since 1990.