Ex-Commander Faults Aviator’s Integrity

A Marine aviator’s former commander said Wednesday that he lost trust in the man after learning he had lied about using a video camera before his jet hit a ski gondola cable, killing 20 people.

The testimony came during the sentencing phase of a court-martial at Camp Lejeune, N.C., for Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, 31, of Westbury, N.Y.

Schweitzer pleaded guilty Monday to charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice for destroying a videotape he shot during the tragic flight Feb. 3, 1998, over Cavalese, Italy.

Retired Col. Richard Muegge, who was relieved of command after the accident, said that Schweitzer told him there was a video camera aboard the EA-6B Prowler but said he didn’t use it.

“He made a series of very bad mistakes and errors in judgment,” Muegge said. “Something like that hurts the special trust and confidence you need in someone you may go to war with. . . . A Marine officer basically lives or dies by his integrity.”

Schweitzer was the Prowler’s navigator when it clipped a ski gondola cable.

He testified previously that he used the camera three times to tape parts of the flight and once aimed the camera at his face and smiled. He said that he and the pilot, Capt. Richard Ashby, 32, of Mission Viejo, agreed to switch the tape for a blank one so that investigators would not get it.

Schweitzer faces up to 10 years in prison and dismissal from the service. He will be given either the sentence reached in his plea agreement, which has not been disclosed, or that directed by the jury, whichever is more lenient.

During opening statements, Lt. Col. Carol Joyce told the nine-member military jury that Schweitzer “is not worthy of the trust necessary for an officer.”

But Schweitzer’s lawyer said the Marine made a bad decision after a tragic accident, and a defense witness testified that Schweitzer was more upset than the other three Prowler crewmen when they learned of the gondola deaths.

A jury earlier this month acquitted Ashby of manslaughter charges. The same charges against Schweitzer were later dismissed. Ashby still faces obstruction-of-justice charges for his role in the videotape switch and is scheduled to stand trial this month.