Pilot Defends Acts in Tragedy

Once again I’m embarrassed to be an American, when I hear of Marine Corps Capt. Richard Ashby of California declaring he is innocent of wrongdoing in the shearing of gondola cables that brought 20 Italian skiers to their deaths (May 3). He was reported to have been flying his jet much too low and too fast and in an unauthorized area. This pilot’s lack of sense of responsibility, integrity and character is appalling.

My husband has relatives living near this small town of Trento, Italy, and it is impossible to explain to them that this pilot is expecting to be fully “vindicated” for this accident and that he is now sorry for it and believes the U.S. Marine Corps will support his actions.

He is frightening.

CHRISTINA COOPER SUTTLEMYRE

Beverly Hills

* It is absolutely true that Ashby and his crew are not solely responsible for the tragedy, although this does not acquit them at all. American military officers (as stated by the Italian press) accept neither maps drawn by foreign cartographers nor suggestions from local surveyors. In the American military maps, the Italian ski resort’s facilities might not appear, but in the Italian ones they do. Before the tragedy occurred, there was a long history of complaints by local authorities due to hot-dogging antics of American pilots serving on the nearby NATO air base. These complaints went unheeded.

While it is unfair to demonize the whole Marine Corps, it is clear that these pilots are not taught professional military behavior along with technical preparation, maybe because their high commanders lack such professionalism as well. Otherwise, Ashby would have had in his pocket a more specifically detailed map of what was below him, and the thought of any unrequested and dangerous flight performance would never have occurred to him.

GUIDO E. VALOBRA

DE GIOVANNI

Los Angeles