U.S. military to blame pilots for cablecar disaster
     WASHINGTON - March 11, 1998 3:06 p.m. EST - A military investi-
 gation report to be released on Thursday has found the four-man
 crew of a U.S. Marine Corps jet responsible for a cablecar tragedy
 in Italy that killed 20 people, a defense official said on
 Wednesday.
     "The investigation found that the accident could have been
 avoided. It cites pilot error and recommends that disciplinary
 action be taken against the crew," the U.S. official, who asked
 not to be identified, told Reuters.
     Marine Corps officials had said the EA-6B Prowler jet was flying
 far too low on Feb. 3 in the Dolomite mountains of northeastern
 Italy when it slashed the overhead wires of a cablecar, sending 20
 Europeans plunging to their deaths at a ski resort.
     The results of the investigation are to be announced on Thursday
 in Aviano, Italy, where the aircraft was based, by Marine Corps Maj.
 Gen. Michael DeLong, who headed the investigation.
     The U.S. official said at the Pentagon that DeLong had decided
 to recommend that disciplinary action against the crew be taken by
 Lt. Gen. Peter Pace, commander of U.S. Marine forces in the Atlantic
 and based in Norfolk, Va.
     Pace could take direct disciplinary action in the case, but is
 more likely to order an "Article 32" review of the case to determine
 whether the men should face a U.S. military court martial.
     Italian authorities have asked to have jurisdiction over the men
 if an Italian investigation determines that they should be charged.
 But U.S. defense officials said it was unlikely that Army Gen.
 Wesley Clark, commander of U.S. forces in Europe, would give up
 American jurisdiction in the case.
     The Marine Corps EA-6B was piloted by Capt. Richard Ashby, 30,
 of Mission Viejo, Calif. The three electronic counter-measures
 officers on board were Captains Joseph Schweitzer, 30, of Westbury,
 N.Y.; William Raney, 26, of Englewood, Colo., and Chandler
 Seagraves, 28, of Nineveh, Ind.
     Relations between Italy and the United States suffered as a re-
 sult of the disaster at the ski resort in Cavalese. Angry Italians
 accused the U.S. military of trying to hide information from the
 plane's flight recorder.
     President Bill Clinton said at a news conference last month he
 was "heartsick" about the accident and promised Italian Prime Min-
 ister Romano Prodi that he would make absolutely sure that there
 would be a full investigation into the matter.
     The twin-engine electronics warfare plane was reportedly flying
 at around 300 to 500 feet, far lower than regulations allow, when
 it clipped the cable, snapping the wire and sending the car cabin
 plummeting 650 feet onto an icy mountainside.
     All 20 people inside the cablecar were killed. They included
 holiday-makers from Italy, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and
 Austria.
     The plane, based at Aviano as part of a NATO force flying
 missions over Bosnia, was on a routine training mission at the
 time of the accident.
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