Jurors Told Pilot Took Flight Risk

A Marine pilot took a risk by doing a 360-degree roll in his jet the afternoon the plane cut an Italian ski gondola cable, killing 20 people, the pilot’s former commander testified. “It’s not very safe,” Lt. Col. Richard Muegge told jurors at Camp Lejeune, N.C. “It’s not commonplace and it’s never been condoned.” Prosecutors in the court-martial of Capt. Richard Ashby say the corkscrew maneuver, called a flaperon, occurred just before the collision. The defense says the roll was normally used to cross mountain ridges.