When we talk about the Ustica massacre we mean the demolition of a plane DC-9 of Itaviawhich took place in the Tyrrhenian Sea the June 27, 1980, which caused the death of the 81 people. After 45 years, the truth has not been ascertained exactly, but almost certainly the DC-9 was involved in the attack launched by NATO aircraft (French or US) against military aircraft of the Libya. The discovery of the Carcass of a Libyan Mig On the Sila mountains, which took place three weeks after the massacre, the hypothesis consolidates. Over the years, the investigations on Ustica have been hindered by Palesi Attempts to sidetrack And, perhaps, also from the assassination of people who learned of confidential news. Today it is very likely that the Italian military and politicians have the truth hidden In order not to violate military secret and not to upset relations with NATO allies.
The Ustica massacre of 27 June 1980: the facts
On June 27, 1980 a DC-9 plane of the Itavia Company, which carried out the Ih 870 flight From Bologna to Palermo, he fell near the island of Ustica, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of the coast of Sicily. On board there were 77 passengersincluding 11 children, e 4 crew members. They all lost their lives: it was one of the most serious disasters in the history of Italian aviation.
Three weeks later, on July 18, on the Sila mountains, in Calabria, the wreck of a military plane “was found”MIG “of the Libyan Air Forcecontaining inside the corpse of the pilot. It has never been ascertained if the accident had taken place on July 18 or if the carcass of the aircraft was there for many days: according to numerous analysts, the MIG he fell on June 27ththe same day as the Ustica massacre.
Sidetracks and suspicious deaths
The dynamics of Ustica disaster appeared immediately suspect and in the following years both the judiciary and the media led Investigations on the incident. The recovery of the wreck De DC-9, which took place between 1987 and 1992, allowed examine many issues more in depth. The investigations, however, were hindered by Attempts to sidetrack and several people involved in the affair they lost their lives suspiciously. Among them, the Marshal of the Air Force Mario Alberto Dettori That on the evening of the massacre, according to many sources, served at a radar in Poggio Ballone, in the province of Grosseto, and in 1987 he was found hanged in his home in a defined unnatural way by the scientific police; the marshal Franco Parisiin service to the radar on July 18, 1981 (day of the finding of the Libyan Mig), found hanged in 1995.
Between 2000 and 2004, some high Air Force officers were processed for sidetrackingbut the process ended with acquittals and prescriptions. Nobody has ever been tried for the responsibility of the massacre.
The hypotheses: why did the DC-9 fall in Ustica?
Over the years, various hypotheses have been advanced on the causes of the massacre. Some have been definitively denied, others are considered reliable.
According to the hypothesis of structural failureadvanced immediately after the facts, the plane would have undergone a flight failure. The hypothesis caused enormous damage to the Itavia company (already indebted at the time of the massacre), which a few months later failed. Today we know that this reconstruction has no basis. Another theory wants that on board the plane it had been placed a bomb: the fall of the aircraft would therefore have been caused by a act of terrorism – A phenomenon that in those years was actually present in Italy. However, this hypothesis was also denied because the damage reported by the aircraft carcass do not appear compatible with an explosion inside.
The most likely hypothesis is that the DC-9 has found itself, for a tragic fatality, in the middle of one Aerial battle between NATO aircraft and one or more Libyan Mig. It should be remembered that Libya, then governed by Muhammar Gaddafiwas in strong contrast to the United States (which a few years later they would bomb Tripoli) and with other western countries. According to the more likely reconstructionon June 27 the Libyans were flying on the Tyrrhenian Sea and were intercepted by NATO hunting, who, in an attempt to break them down, also affected the DC-9. The MIG found on the Sila would have been hit on June 27 together with the Aereo of Itavia.
At this point there are two possible reconstructions:
- Responsible for the demolition of the DC-9 were the French huntingwho launched an air-air missile against a Libyan Mig, believing that Gaddafi was on board, and the Itavia aircraft also centered. This reconstruction was supported in 2007 by Francesco CossigaPresident of the Council at the time of the facts. French institutions have always denied their involvement.
- The other hypothesis has it that the responsibility falls on the U.S. huntingperhaps taken off by the aircraft carrier Sarathoga: they would have tried to intercept the MIG but, flying too close to the DC-9, they would have caused the fall. The hypothesis, supported by a recent investigation byExpressedis consolidated by the fact that the reservoir A helmet and a rescue jacket of the American driver were found of an American hunt and on an Ustica beach. There “Almost collision” He would therefore have dropped both the DC-9 and the American aircraft; The pilot would have saved himself by throwing himself with the parachute.
The truth has not yet been ascertained, but the hypothesis that the DC-9 was involved in one aerial battle It is now considered certain. In 2011 The Palermo Court sentenced the ministries of transport and defense in civil heading to compensate the relatives of the victims For not having guaranteed flight safety (thus recognizing that the plane fell out of the external cause) and for the sidetracks. The sentence was confirmed in the subsequent degrees of judgment. Many points of the story, however, remain obscure: We do not yet know who was direct responsible for the demolition, who organized the sidetracks and whether the suspicious deaths were wanted or simple coincidences.
