1998 incident involving a US Marine Corps aircraft and a cable car in Italy
For the 1976 disaster, see 1976 Cavalese cable car crash.
1998 Cavalese cable car crash
EA-6B BuNo 163045, the aircraft involved in the accident, photographed in 1997.
Date
3 February 1998; 26 years ago (1998-02-03)
Time
15:13 local time (CET)
Location
near Cavalese, Trentino, Italy
Cause
Controlled flight into obstacle, caused by pilot error.
Casualties
20 dead (1 cable car operator, 19 passengers)
Accused
Richard J. Ashby
Joseph Schweitzer
Convictions
Obstruction of justice
Conduct unbecoming
The Cavalese cable car crash, also known as the Cermis massacre (Italian: Strage del Cermis), occurred on 3 February 1998, near the Italian town of Cavalese, a ski resort in the Dolomites some 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Trento. Twenty people were killed when a United States Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft, flying too low and against regulations, cut a cable supporting a cable car of an aerial lift.[1][2]
The pilot, Captain Richard J. Ashby, and his navigator, Captain Joseph Schweitzer, were put on trial in the United States and found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide.[3][4] Later they were found guilty of obstruction of justice and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman for having destroyed a videotape recorded from the plane, and were dismissed from the Marine Corps.[5] The disaster, and the subsequent acquittal of the pilots, strained relations between the U.S. and Italy.[6]
^"20 die after plane clips tram line". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. 4 February 1998. p. A4. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^Tagliabue, John (13 March 1998). "Marine fliers to get hearing in ski accident". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (New York Times). p. A4. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^Vogel, Steve (5 March 1999). "Pilot acquitted in skiers' deaths". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Washington Post). p. A1. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^Griffin, Anna (5 March 1999). "Marine pilot is found not guilty in ski tragedy". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. p. 1A. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^Cite error: The named reference espresso was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Scaliati, Giuseppe (2006). Dove va la Lega Nord: radici ed evoluzione politica di un movimento populista. Zero in condotta. p. 67. OCLC 66373351.
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