U.S. Families Seek Link to Gondola Death Payments

Monica Cindrich’s fury grew as she learned that legislation was sliding through Congress to pay $40 million to the families of those who died when a Marine jet sent an Italian gondola plunging to the ground.

Seven of the 20 gondola victims were German, but Germany has not yet compensated Cindrich for the death of her husband, Greg, in an in-flight collision of military jets two years ago.

“It’s a slap in my face if reparations are going to be made to the Germans before they are made for my husband’s death,” Cindrich, 28, said this week in a telephone interview from her home in North Charleston, S.C.

Cindrich’s complaint caught the ear of her senator, Republican Strom Thurmond, who informed his Senate colleagues this week that he will offer legislation that would make the American payment to the seven German families contingent on Germany’s payment to Cindrich.

“This is a simple matter of fairness,” said Thurmond, the former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. “If the United States Senate does not look out for the interests of American servicemen and women, who will?”

Air Force Capt. Greg Cindrich, 28, and eight other Americans were killed Sept. 13, 1997, when their C-141 transport was hit head-on by a German air force jet 60 miles off the coast of Namibia. Several investigations determined the German plane had been flying at the wrong altitude.

The families of the nine Americans have filed legal claims with the German government, but they have received no compensation.

A diplomatic source familiar with the situation said the German government asked the families of the 1997 crash victims in November to specify the amount they are seeking, and the Germans are still trying to get details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

A lawyer for the German gondola victims’ families, John Arthur Eaves Jr., said they are sympathetic to Cindrich and willing to intervene with German officials on her behalf.

But he criticized the Thurmond approach as unfair, saying the cases aren’t comparable because the gondola victims were civilians while the 1997 victims were military.