CERMIS, A MASSACRE IMPUNITY February 3, 1998, the time of the war in Bosnia. Since the NATO base in Aviano part in training flight Marine Corps aircraft. The mission and 'Easy call 01 within the scheduled operation Deny Flight. The aircraft and' used for electronic warfare: and 'a Ea - 6 B Prowler said, the Predator. Take off at 14, At 36 .. 15.12 minutes and 51 seconds veneer two cables of the cable car to the mountain from Cavalese Cermis. A car plunges down into the valley, near the river Avisio. Die nineteen tourists and manipulator of the cable car. At 15.26 the Prowler lands back to Aviano. The pilot will say ': "I only heard
a jolt."
have described the killing unpunished because 'nobody' was convicted of those deaths, despite the evidence, heavy responsibility '. Five years later, the scene of the tragedy there is' a cross in memory. The cable car and 'new long, shining. And the valley of Cermis and 'round a holiday resort. Also because 'now those flights not can be more '. But no one forgets the grief. And the anger.
died in the winds, that Tuesday ', in full skiing: nine women and eleven men, if you can' call a man Philip, fourteen, Polish, died with his mother, Ewa. Tourists came from all over Europe including Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands. People of the house for years in these mountains. But the house was mostly Marcello Vanzo, the operator, who that day had mistaken the turn, and fate, with a colleague. A massacre
unpunished, and 'was told. But also full of mysteries, never clarified. A fly-authorized or not?, Ten minutes of radio silence (just near 'fatal impact from 15.05 to 15.15 when the pilot launches emergency), a mission recorder "disappeared, destroyed a video tape, a charter flight at issue, an alarm sounded for a long time, especially scandalous acquittal. Come to order.
The mission was certainly authorized by the 'Italian. That flight was the fourth in a list of ten submitted by the command of the Marines. There 's a code below that list, an Italian captain, last name beginning with F. From the filter a particular military secret: the Americans have entered the Prowler in a list, however, was intended only to F 16. An error. The fact remains that no one, and 'notice. It 'the other ufficiale italiano, M.B.G, che controfirmo’, ne’ il centro di controllo di Martinafranca.
L’inchiesta, immediata, della procura di Trento stabilisce in ogni caso la gravissima responsabilita’ del pilota. I voli normali erano autorizzati a una quota di 1100 metri , anche se fosse stato autorizzato al volo radente non poteva scendere piu’ in basso di 650 metri. L’impatto, invece, e’ avvenuto a 150 metri da terra. L’aereo volava sicuramente anche a una velocita’ nettamente superiore a quella prevista. Secondo i dati forniti da un aereo –radar Usa “Awacs” che in quel momento voleva a una quota superiore, il Prowler andava a 500 miglia orarie e non a 100 come previsto dal Regulation. This was confirmed on March 12, forty days after the massacre, the report of the American Committee of Inquiry chaired by General Michael Delong. "The cause of the accident
- reads the paper - and
'was a mistake of the crew that drove aggressively the plane, past the speed' up and flying well below the level required . The Italian experts go further. Stipulate that the aircraft and 'stuck between the two cables cut, distant from each other between thirty and forty meters. A stunt, in fact. A gamble, as so often, where we played a beer in the evening. The mountain people and 'a few words. But remember. Witnesses that day they saw the plane pass a few moments before the tragedy flying low on the surface of the artificial lake of Stramentizzo. It was not the first time. The legal battle and
'long. But politics won, and Clinton is personally committed to. The U.S. military avoided trial in Italy. The Prowler was four. The commander, Captain Richard Ashby, 32, California, 750 flight hours. veteran of Bosnia. The Navigator Joseph Schweitzer, 30, of New York. Back, sitting in the back of the cabin, there were two employees of reconnaissance equipment: Indiana 28 years Chandler Seagraves and William Raney, 26 years in Colorado.
Quasi esattamente un anno dopo, l’8 febbraio 1999, si apre il processo davanti alla corte marziale di Camp Lejeune, la base dei marines, nel North Carolina. Il capitano rischia 206 anni di carcere. Il 4 marzo invece e’ assolto, dopo sette ore e mezza di camera di consiglio, da tutte le imputazioni. Uno scandalo: la corte gli riconosce che il volo era autorizzato a una quota di 500 piedi (ma lui stava molto piu’ sotto, altrimenti non avrebbe tranciato i cavi), che le mappe di volo non contenevano le indicazioni della funivia (lo stesso comando dei marines lo ha smentito: sulla Tpc, la carta di pilotaggio tattico la funivia era segnata) e che il radar-altimetro presentava difetti di funzionamento (circostanza mai dimostrata).
After the verdict Ashby says: "Now
my prayers for all victims . But American papers are writing that the next day in Las Vegas to celebrate freedom '.
albeit in small part, but there are going to pay. 'Cause that day, as usual, had been shot a video of stunts. The video Cermis no longer exists 'for one simple reason: it' was destroyed. The confession and 'co-driver, Schweitzer. Seized by remorse, said: "At the end of the flight
I handed the tape to the master. I have not ' magazine. " Meanwhile, because 'self-confessed, he avoids a jail sentence. In May
c’e’ dunque un nuovo processo al pilota, Ashby, per ostruzione di prove. Stavolta e’ condannato, a sei mesi. Ma esce di carcere, non si capisce perche’, con un mese di anticipo. Dal 2 ottobre di quattro anni fa e’ nuovamente un uomo libero. Torna a vivere nella villetta di Jacksonville, vicino alla base dei marines . Non apre piu’ bocca. Ma e’ la sua ragazza, Dodie, a parlare. E’ infuriata.: “
La cella di Richard, pensate, non aveva l’aria condizionata. Ha passato i primi mesi da solo a leggere davanti a un tavolo. E io potevo andarlo a trovare solo il fine settimana ”. Povero cowboy.
Pino Scaccia
