USMC Jet Crashes Cable Car | Last Moments

a twin-engine fighter jet and a humble cable car two modes of travel that seem like they're worlds apart but both being suspended in the air i have one thing in common it's a long way down should the mechanics that hold them there fail so what would happen then should said fighter jet collide with the cables of said cable car system which of the two vehicles comes out worse for wear and what happens when the jet in question is on a training mission in a foreign allies territory when this happens how would such an incident affect the relationship between the two nations this is not a hypothetical scenario it really happened that means we do indeed have the answers to all these outlandish questions aviano air base was established in northeastern italy in 1911 it is owned and controlled by the italian air force although the base also hosts the u.s air force the two countries being nato allies in the 90s the base was used for nato operations in the yugoslav wars the former yugoslav states erupting into war and the breakup of the yugoslavian federation these conflicts included the first combat engagement of nato's history and nato forces made use of aviano air base to launch aerial operations across the balkans on the 3rd of february 1998 30 year old captain richard ashby is preparing for his final training exercise before his promotion to fighter pilot with his navigator captain joseph schweitzer and crew members captain chandler seagraves and captain william rainey a flight plan is arranged that will take the united states marine corps ea-6b prowler into the fiem valley in the alps taking a borrowed camcorder with them to film the scenery the crew set off from aviano air base at 2 35 after around half an hour of low altitude maneuvers they enter the fiem valley home of the ski resort town of cavalisi the town boasts a cable car to the nearby mountain which in 1976 was the site of the deadliest cable car crash in history in which 43 people were killed this is unknown to richard ashby and his crew in fact they are not aware of the cable car's existence at all it is absent on the onboard maps and did not come up during the mission briefing imagine ashby surprised then when he spots a bright yellow cable car ahead in the distance traveling at over 500 miles per hour at an altitude of about 300 feet ashby at first attributes the yellow dot to some form of optical illusion when he realizes this is no illusion it is too late banking the aircraft to avoid the cable car ashby flies under the cable but the prowler's right wing slams into it cutting straight through the 2-inch thick cable the prowler survives the crash but is badly damaged with a split wing and broken tail it flies on leaking fuel and hydraulic fluid the cable car is not so lucky with the cable cut the car plummets around 250 feet onto the mountain range all 20 on board are killed they were tourists from all over europe the marine pilots make an emergency return to aviano air base when they arrive an investigation will commence the crash caused outrage in italy where the disaster was viewed as the result of reckless and illegal flying by daredevil pilots looking to have some fun the crew had broken numerous regulations in their maneuvers deviating from their flight plan and flying faster than was permitted the italian government forbade flight under 2000 feet in the region much higher than the 300 feet the craft was traveling at flying below cables was also against regulations nato treaties meant the crew would face trial in u.s courts further annoying italians who were certain there would be a cover-up rather than a just trial with tensions raised between the two nations u.s president bill clinton offered an official apology and promised monetary compensation all four men on the aircraft are said to be charged and face marine corps court martial they are facing 20 counts of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide at his court-martial ashby characterized the incident as an honest accident claiming the plane's altimeter had been malfunctioning and did not sound a low altitude warning this was disputed as highly unlikely as an investigation reveals the altimeter appeared to be in normal working order on board the plane maps were found which did indeed omit the existence of the cable car despite the fact it was a common feature on ordinary civilian maps it seemed the crew had been supplied obsolete documents a camcorder and tape were also found on board although there was nothing on it in march 1999 the jury acquitted ashby on all counts this result automatically cleared the other crew members as well families of the victims are not pleased by this the italian government gives each family sixty thousand dollars which is reimbursed by the us the us also adds an extra five thousand dollars for each family to cover funeral costs however there is another wrinkle to the story while facing the court martial crew members chandler seagraves and william rainey accepted a plea bargain receiving testimonial immunity to disclose additional information to the investigation they allege that the entire incident had been caught on film by the onboard camcorder and that upon landing pilot ashby and navigator schweitzer removed the tape and replaced it with a blank one later destroying the original at a second court martial both men were charged with obstruction of justice and conduct on becoming of an officer and gentleman both are found guilty and dishonorably discharged from the marines making them ineligible for military benefits as part of a plea agreement schweitzer avoids prison ashby received a six-month prison term although he will be released after four and a half months for good behavior at this stage outraged italians are convinced their suspicions have been confirmed justice has not been served in fact much of the damning information relating to the investigations was kept secret only becoming public over a decade later in may 1999 a bill is put before u.s congress that will set up a 40 million dollar compensation fund for the victims families congress rejects the bill later that year italy awards each victim 1.9 million dollars the us is obligated by nato treaties to pay 75 of this and so it did and so while the victims families were compensated no one was ever really punished for the negligence that led to their deaths had it not been revealed that evidence was destroyed there have been no punishment at all which seems unjust for a military training exercise that killed 20 civilians even if it's not exactly unexpected imagine what being on that cable car was like a fighter jet suddenly flying past at over 500 miles per hour and severing the cable that holds you 250 feet in the air in the fall you must know you have no hope of survival what you'll never know is how this has happened who is responsible and what will become of them to ponder that your last moments are simply too brief [Music]

Channel: Qxir

Views: 680,164

Keywords: cavalese cable car, crash, cermis, richard ashby, aviano air base, disaster, cablecar, jet, prowler, explained, irish, italian, american, accident, fall, drop

Id: OEgpbkikgcA

Length: 8min 38sec (518 seconds)

Published: Fri May 06 2022