Court-Martial Set for Pilots in Ski Run Deaths

The Marine Corps announced Friday that not only will two aviators be court-martialed for the accident that killed 20 people in an Italian cable car tragedy, but dereliction-of-duty charges also may be lodged against four senior officers.

The ruling by Lt. Gen. Peter Pace, commander of the Marine Corps forces in the Atlantic region, sets in motion what is shaping up to be an unparalleled episode in U.S. military justice.

The court-martial on 20 counts of negligent homicide, involuntary manslaughter and other charges against Capt. Richard J. Ashby, 31, the pilot of the jet involved in the February accident at a ski resort, and Capt. Joseph P. Schweitzer, 30, the navigator, likely will be held this fall. It will mark one of the few times that U.S. servicemen have faced criminal charges for a training session gone bad. If convicted, both career fliers could be sentenced to life in prison.

“I don’t recall an incident of this magnitude ever before,” said retired Brig. Gen. David Brahms, a former Marine Corps lawyer now in private practice in Oceanside, referring to the decision to court-martial Mission Viejo resident Ashby and Westbury, N.Y., resident Schweitzer.

Beyond that, the new push to hold more officers accountable for the tragedy signals that U.S. authorities are responding to heavy pressure from their European allies for swift and severe punishment for both the air and ground crews at the U.S. installation in Aviano, Italy.

The four Marine supervisors are being sent to administrative hearings on charges that they shirked their duties to insure that military training missions are flown properly and with the utmost in safety for both the crew members and any civilians on the ground or in the flight paths.

If found guilty of dereliction of duty, they could see their careers end abruptly.

“It’s a death knell for any career,” said Brahms, who was a consultant for the movie “A Few Good Men.” “You’re gone. They’re telling you to go now and don’t go later. It’s a serious bit of business.”

Pace said Friday that he has “determined that there was sufficient evidence to warrant hearings” in the cases of the four supervisors. He added that he will personally conduct the sessions “to determine responsibility and accountability.”

The four supervisors from the squadron were identified as Lt. Col. Richard A. Muegge of Mansfield, Ohio, the commanding officer; Lt. Col. John G. Koran III of Vista, Calif., the executive officer; Maj. Kirk A. Shawhan of Parma, Ohio, the operations officer; and Maj. Max A. Caramanian of Humble, Texas, the director of standardization and safety.

If found guilty in the administrative hearings, they face a reprimand, forfeiture of pay and restriction to base.

“It sounds to me like it was discovered there was not the kind of oversight that should have been made over the flight arrangements,” Brahms said. “The law wasn’t laid down by the supervisors. People in charge didn’t make sure that the rules were being followed.”

Investigators have determined that at the time of the Feb. 3 crash, the EA-6B Prowler was flying below 300 feet and too fast--both in apparent violation of flight training rules--when the aircraft clipped a cable car wire and plunged the 20 victims to their deaths.

The military has contended the crew was “hot-dogging” or “flat-hatting”--both terms for showing off at dangerous altitudes and speeds.

Pace, in his ruling, decided not to send two other members of the plane’s crew to court-martial proceedings. Those Marines, who sat in the back of the plane, are Capt. William L. Raney II, 26, of Englewood, Colo., and Capt. Chandler P. Seagraves, 28, of Nineveh, Ind. Pace’s decision that Ashby and Schweitzer should be court-martialed but not Raney and Seagraves adhered to recommendations he had received last week from the military judge who oversaw hearings into the accident. No decision has been made on whether each will be tried separately.

Frank Spinner, a Virginia attorney who is representing Ashby, said the apparent effort by the Marines to spread the blame in the case is an indication that they believe the defense theory that the crash was caused not by human error but by overall failures within the squadron.

“It’s clearly an admission there were systemic problems,” he said. “And I think that if you go out and talk to Marines in the aviation community, you’re going to find them to be pretty upset if this thing is not spread out.

“There are multiple contributing factors here.”

Ashby’s mother, Carol Anderson of Mission Viejo, said the latest development was no surprise.

“This is nothing that we didn’t expect,” she said. “I’m concerned that it’s gone this far, but I’m convinced that the facts and the truth are on our side.”

But Anderson said she fears her son has already been chosen as a scapegoat and that now military officials are merely searching for evidence to fit their preconception.

David Beck, the attorney representing Schweitzer, said he is pleased that the work of the supervisors is being looked at.

Italian officials also praised the expansion of the probe.

Mayor Mauro Gilmozzi of Cavalese, the town near the tragedy, told Italian state television he hopes the United States “goes all the way to the bottom of this.”

“We’re not thirsting after phony justice,” the mayor said. “We only want justice.”

Special correspondent Steve Carney in Orange County contributed to this story.