1998 Cavalese cable car crash

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.
Date3 February 1998; 26 years ago (1998-02-03)
Time15:13 local time (CET)
Locationnear Cavalese, Trentino, Italy
CauseControlled flight into obstacle, caused by pilot error.
Casualties
20 dead (1 cable car operator, 19 passengers)
Accused
  • Richard J. Ashby
  • Joseph Schweitzer
Convictions

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]

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference espresso was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Scaliati, Giuseppe (2006). Dove va la Lega Nord: radici ed evoluzione politica di un movimento populista. Zero in condotta. p. 67. OCLC 66373351.