Jet Crewman Says He Didn’t Hear Low-Altitude Alarm

A crewman on the Marine jet that sliced an Italian ski gondola cable, killing 20 people, testified Thursday that he never heard an alarm that should have indicated that the plane was flying too low.

Capt. Chandler Seagraves said that early in the flight, pilot Capt. Richard Ashby had trouble with the radar altimeter, which measures the plane’s altitude. But Ashby put the plane into a climb, and the altimeter began working again, Seagraves said.

The crewman also said the altimeter was set to sound an alarm if the jet dipped below 800 feet. After Ashby crossed a ridge in the Alps and then flew lower, Seagraves testified, he never heard an alarm.

Ashby, 31, is on trial for 20 counts of involuntary manslaughter and other charges. He could get 200 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors claim that he flew the four-man radar-jamming jet too low and too fast when it hit the gondola cable about 360 feet off the ground on Feb. 3, 1998.

Ashby’s attorneys say the Mt. Cermis ski lift was not on his government-issued map, the altimeter on his EA-6B Prowler malfunctioned and he experienced an optical illusion that made him think he was flying higher than he really was.

Seagraves said he belonged to a different squadron than Ashby and was assigned to fly with him only the previous night.

Seagraves said he felt the plane shiver when it struck the cable.

When the trial opened, prosecutors said they would show that Ashby performed a 360-degree roll during the flight against regulations. Seagraves, however, said Ashby was practicing a standard maneuver to evade enemy radar.

Seagraves, 29, and the other back seat crewman--Capt. William L. Raney II, 26--initially faced charges in connection with the crash, but they were dropped. Navigator Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, 31, is scheduled for trial on the same charges as Ashby in March.