O.C. Pilot Put Flight at Risk, Ex-Commander Testifies

A Marine pilot took risks by bringing a video camera and doing a 360-degree roll in his jet the afternoon the plane cut an Italian ski gondola cable and killed 20 people, the pilot’s former commander testified Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Richard Muegge testified after the jury flew to a nearby base to sit in the cockpit of an EA-6B Prowler, the same jet flown by Capt. Richard Ashby last Feb. 3 in Cavalese, Italy. During the four-hour trip, the jury also went to a bombing range to watch a Prowler and an FA-18 fly over at 1,000 feet and nearly 600 mph.

Prosecutors in Ashby’s court-martial say the corkscrew maneuver, called a flaperon roll, occurred just before the collision. The defense says the roll was normally used to cross mountain ridges.

“It’s not very safe,” Muegge told jurors. “It doesn’t take much to lose altitude. It can be disorienting.”

Muegge said Ashby also put the flight at risk by taking a video camera. Muegge said he didn’t ban cameras on jets but didn’t like them.

A tape from the camera was destroyed, authorities said.

Ashby, 31, of Mission Viejo, is charged with 20 counts of involuntary manslaughter. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of more than 200 years in prison.