Cavalese cable car disaster (1998)

The cable car from Cavalese accident on 3 February 1998 was caused by a fighter aircraft that cut the rope supporting the Cermisbahn, an air cable car, which Cavalese Trentino ( Trento ) to the Cermis, a mountain of Lagorai. 20 people died in the crash of a cabin there trains running.

Starting position

A staffed with four persons U.S. combat aircraft of type EA -6 Prowler a squadron from North Carolina flew at low altitude along the Val di Fiemme. Mandatory been here a minimum altitude of 500 meters. A low- flying area, would have been allowed in the flights of up to 150 meters in height, was not reported here. To obtain a permit for the training flight through the narrow valleys in the Dolomites, the crew made ​​a misrepresentation to the air safety authority. The aircraft was also equipped with over 800 km / h fast, and that the crew ignored other provisions.

The Cermisbahn runs south of the town of Cavalese across the valley. Here is a gondola with 20 passengers was traveling. In the maps used by the U.S. military, the cable car was not located.

The accident

15:12 clock severed the plane with its tail fin the carrying cable of the cable car at a height of over 100 meters above the ground. The traffic- it gondola plunged into the depths.

Follow

All 20 passengers, seven German, five Belgians, three Italians, two Poles, two Austrians and one Dutch citizen, died. The aircraft was indeed damaged, but could still return to Aviano Air Base Air Force Base.

Due to the NATO Status of Forces Agreement of 1951, the pilot and his navigator were indicted by an American military tribunal at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Both were acquitted of charges of involuntary manslaughter on March 4, 1999. A crucial fact which led to the acquittal was that the cable car in the maps of the U.S. military was not shown.

In a second trial in May 1999, but they have been found guilty for the destruction of the personal video recording, which had held the flight due to suppression of documents. Both were dishonorably discharged from the army. The pilot also received a six month prison sentence, of which he had to serve four and a half months. The low penalty led to outrage in the Italian public and a load of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Italy.

After two years of negotiations, compensation amounting to the equivalent of 3.8 million German marks were awarded for each of the affected families. That was the legal maximum sum and the highest in Italy ever paid compensation.

For misfortune minute ringing in Cavalese every year, the church bells.

Trivia

In 1972 an Italian machine had cut the cable of a cable car at Pordoi. The train was not yet in operation, so there was only property damage.

As early as 1976 there had been at the Cermisbahn to a major accident, as a supporting rope broke.