Relatives of victims reacted with shock to the acquittal yesterday of a marine pilot accused of the manslaughter of 20 people when his aircraft sliced through a ski-lift cable in the Italian Alps a year ago.
Capt Richard Ashby was found not guilty on all charges by a jury of fellow officers at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He faced a possible sentence of 200 years if convicted of manslaughter. A whoop was said to have gone up in the courtroom when the verdict was announced.
"The families' reaction is one of shock," said Mr John Eaves, who represented the relatives of the German victims. He said that several of the family members complained there is "no justice in the world".
Capt Ashby in a brief statement after the verdict said his "heart is with the families of the victims of this tragedy".
The accident caused strained relations between Italy and the US when it happened on February 3rd, 1998, in the Val de Fiemme during a NATO training flight. Seven Germans, five Belgians, three Italians, two Austrians, two Poles and one Dutch person died when a gondola carrying skiers on Mount Cermis plunged 350 feet to the ground.
The Italian government first demanded that the four-man crew be tried in Italy. Local residents complained that US aircraft were constantly flying at dangerously low altitudes in the valley.
Capt Ashby in his defence said the ski-lift was not marked on his map and he did not see it until too late. He also said the plane's altimeter was not working correctly.
The prosecution accused him of "flat-hatting" or flying recklessly and "outright dangerous conduct". It said the accident would not have happened if the pilot had observed the restrictions limiting the jet to a minimum altitude of 2,000 feet and 450 knots speed.
Capt Ashby said he thought the altitude restriction was 1,000 feet and that he was unaware of any speed restriction. His lawyers said he was also deceived by an optical illusion in not realising that the floor of the valley was rising steeply at that point.
Prosecutor, Maj Daniel Daugherty, told the court: "To hang this entire case on an optical illusion is absolutely wrong. The only illusion in this case is that Capt Ashby has deluded himself into thinking he's not criminally responsible."
Charges against two of the crew who were at the back of the cockpit have been dropped. The navigator, Capt Joseph Schweitzer, faces a court martial later this month on charges of dereliction of duty and destruction of property. Capt Ashby was also found not guilty of these charges.
The captain faces further court action, however. He is to go on trial on conspiracy charges for removing a videotape from a personal video camera used by a crewman during the flight and replacing it with a blank tape.
Defence lawyers said one other US military pilot had been court-martialled and convicted in a civilian death. In 1970 an army helicopter pilot was convicted of negligent homicide when a rotor blade killed a civilian in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Mr Eaves said the families of the victims "are shocked. They don't understand how this could happen." He said they may now file an action in Italy, "and it could take eight to 10 years until they receive compensation . . . Injustice has been done."
In Boston, the Italian prime minister said he was "baffled" by the verdict. "I am really baffled by this ruling. Of course, we do want to know and we need to explore the reasons behind the ruling and the actual meaning of the ruling," said Mr Massimo D'Alema speaking through an interpreter at the John F. Kennedy Library.