Outrage Forced an Open Gondola Probe
From Times Wire Reports
Italy’s outrage over a Marine jet that sliced a gondola cable and killed 20 people forced military officials to cancel their usual closed-door investigation and conduct the probe in public, a colonel testified at Camp Lejeune. On the night of the Feb. 3 accident, Col. Thomas Blickensderfer said the usual Air Mishap Board inquiry was scrapped to appease Italian officials. The Marine EA-6B Prowler cut the 370-foot-high gondola cable near Cavalese, Italy. The jet was on a training mission from the air base at Aviano, Italy.
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