Most Counts Against Navigator Dropped in Ski Lift Deaths
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CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The U.S. Marines on Monday dismissed involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide charges against a Marine navigator facing court-martial in the deaths of 20 people killed when a jet sheared lift cables near an Italian ski village.
Gen. Peter Pace, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic, ordered prosecutors to drop the most serious charges against Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, after the jet’s pilot, Capt. Richard Ashby, was acquitted of similar charges March 4 by a military jury.
Schweitzer and Ashby still face charges of conduct unbecoming an officer for allegedly conspiring to hamper an investigation of the accident.
Schweitzer was navigating in February 1998, when the EA-6B Prowler sheared the lift cables near Cavalese, Italy, sending a gondola plunging nearly 360 feet.
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