Cavalese cable car disaster ( 1998 ) The Cavalese cable car disaster of 1998 ( also called the Strage del Cermis ( " Massacre of Cermis " ) occurred on February 3 , 1998 , near the Italian town of Cavalese , a ski resort in the Dolomites some 40 km ( 25 mi ) northeast of Trento . Twenty people died when a United States Marine Corps EA - 6B Prowler aircraft cut a cable supporting a gondola of an aerial tramway . The pilot , Captain Richard J . Ashby , and his navigator , Captain Joseph Schweitzer , were put on trial in the United States and were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide . 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 . The disaster , and the subsequent acquittal of the pilots , strained relations between the United States and Italy . Details of the accident . On 3 February 1998 , an EA - 6B Prowler , BuNo " 163045 " , ' CY - 02 ' , callsign " Easy 01 " , an electronic warfare aircraft belonging to Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2 ( VMAQ - 2 ) of the United States Marine Corps , was on a low altitude training mission . At 14 : 13 local time it struck the cables supporting the aerial tramway - style cable car from Cavalese . The aircraft was flying at a speed of and at an altitude of between . When reaching approximately , the aircraft ' s right wing struck the cables supporting the cable car . The cable was severed and 20 people in the cabin descending from Cermis plunged over to their deaths . The plane had wing and tail damage but was able to return to its base , Aviano Air Base . Victims . Those killed , 19 passengers and one operator , were all Europeans : eight Germans , five Belgians , three Italians , two Poles , one Austrian and one Dutch . Reactions . President Bill Clinton offered an official apology and promised monetary compensation . The then - United States Ambassador to Italy , Thomas M . Foglietta , visited the accident site and knelt in prayer , offering apologies on behalf of the United States . In Italy , where the event received the name of " Strage del Cermis " ( ) , the low - level flight was strongly criticized and some politicians called for a re - evaluation of rules or a complete ban of such exercises . First trial . Italian prosecutors wanted the four Marines to stand trial in Italy , but an Italian court recognized that North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) treaties gave jurisdiction to U . S . military courts . Initially , all four men on the plane were charged , but only the pilot , Captain Richard J . Ashby , and his navigator , Captain Joseph Schweitzer , actually faced trial , charged with 20 counts of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide . Ashby ' s trial took place at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune , North Carolina . It was determined that the maps on board did not show the cables and that the EA - 6B was flying somewhat faster and considerably lower than allowed by military regulations . The restrictions in effect at the time required a minimum flying height of ; the pilot said he thought they were at . The cable was cut at a height of . The pilot further claimed that the height - measuring equipment on his plane had been malfunctioning , and that he had been unaware of the speed restrictions . In March 1999 , the jury acquitted Ashby , outraging the European public . The manslaughter charges against Schweitzer were then dropped . Second trial and re - examination . The two men were court - martial ed a second time for obstruction of justice and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman , because they had destroyed a videotape recorded from the plane on the day of the accident . The existence and destruction of this videotape only came to the attention of military investigators in August 1998 , once Capt Chandler P . Seagraves received testimonial immunity and elected to disclose " the truth about everything . " They were found guilty in May 1999 ; both were dismissed from the service and the pilot received a six - month prison term . He was released after four and a half months for good behavior . Schweitzer made a plea agreement that came to full light after the military jury deliberated upon sentencing . His agreement prevented him from serving any prison time , but it did not prevent him from receiving a dismissal . In their appeal , Ashby and Schweitzer asked for a re - examination of their trial and for clemency , challenging their dismissals in order to be eligible for military benefits . They claimed that during the first trial the prosecutor and the defense secretly agreed to drop the involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide charges , but to keep the obstruction of justice charge , in order to satisfy the requests coming from Italy . The appeal of Schweitzer was denied in November 2007 . U . S . official report . In a formal investigation report redacted on March 10 , 1998 , and signed by General Peter Pace , the U . S . Marine Corps agreed with the results of the Italian officers . The investigation was led by General Michael DeLong , along with Italian Colonel s Orfeo Durigon and Fermo Missarino . The document was kept secret until the Italian newspaper " La Stampa " legally obtained a copy from the United States archives and published it on July 13 , 2011 . The Marine aircrew was determined to be flying too low and too fast , putting themselves and others at risk . The investigation team suggested that disciplinary measures against the flight crew and commanding officers should be taken , that the United States had to bear the full blame for what happened , and that victims ' relatives were entitled to receive a monetary settlement . The commission found that the squadron was deployed at Aviano on August 27 , 1997 , before the publishing of new directives by the Italian government forbidding flight below in Trentino Alto Adige . All the squadron ' s pilots received a copy of the directive . The letter was later found , unopened , in the cockpit of the EA - 6B along with maps marking the cable car ropes . In the report , the pilots are said to be usually well - behaved and sane , without any previous case of drug abuse or psychological stress . Nevertheless , on January 24 , they had received a formal warning for flying too low after a training take - off . On February 2 , Schweitzer planned the flight route for a low altitude training mission using obsolete documents . It was proved that the squadron commander , Lieutenant Colonel Muegge , and his assistants , Captains Roys , Recce , Watton , and Caramanian , did not alert the navigator about the new flight altitude limitations , maybe because the proposed flight had a lower ceiling of , enough to be safe with any cable in the area . The report included an interview with the commander of 31st Fighter Wing , who stated that Muegge confessed to him that he and his crew except Ashby were aware of the current flight limitations . After approving the report , Pace suggested disciplinary measures be taken against the commanders , too . On the morning of the disaster , the plane underwent maintenance due to a fault in the " G meter " , which measures g - forces , and was replaced . The radar altimeter was checked and reported in normal condition . After the disaster , Ashby reported the radar altimeter did not alert , but this is disputed and highly unlikely . At the time of the disaster , the radar altimeter was set at , but the plane was flying at less than . Ashby was qualified for low - altitude flight , but his last training mission of that kind was flown over six months before , on July 3 . The report includes flight tracing from a nearby AWACS airplane . The document reports a camcorder aboard the flight , but it was blank after Schweitzer had taken the original cassette and burned it afterwards . Compensation . By February 1999 , the victims ' families had received US $ 65 , 000 per victim as immediate help by the Italian government , which was reimbursed by the U . S . government . In May 1999 , the U . S . Congress rejected a bill that would have set up a $ 40 million compensation fund for the victims . In December 1999 , the Italian legislature approved a monetary compensation plan for the families ( $ 1 . 9 million per victim ) . NATO treaties obliged the U . S . government to pay 75 % of this compensation , which it did .