Prosecutors Attempt To Confirm Cause Of 1980 Downing Near Sicily

The cause of a mysterious Italian airliner crash 28 years ago is being reexamined again by Italian officials after recent statements by a former Italian president.

According to Reuters, the Italian media reported prosecutors in Rome are reopening a probe into the explosion of Itavia Flight 870 over the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily near Ustica on June 27, 1980. The McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 operated by the now-defunct Italian airline went down at 2059 CET while enroute to Palermo International Airport in Sicily from Guglielmo Marconi Airport in Bologna. The renewed interest follows statements made earlier this year by former Italian President Francesco Cossiga referencing his opinion the plane was hit by a French missile.

Reuters said the Rome prosecutor’s office was not available to confirm the report.

On January 10, 2007, a Rome court closed the original case when it acquitted two former air force generals, Lamberto Bartolucci and Franco Ferri, of providing false information about the crash which killed 81 people.

Theories on the cause of the explosion have spread in the years since the downing, ranging from the airliner being caught in the middle of a dogfight between a NATO jet and a Libyan fighter to the jet being mistakenly identified as an enemy jet and subsequently shot down by a missile.

Italian television earlier this year featured Cossiga stating that he and the former cabinet undersecretary  Giuliano Amato were informed by Italian secret service agents a French aircraft launched a missile apparently attempting to hit a nearby plane believed to be carrying Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.

According to the media, radar monitoring data reports showed fighter jets from several NATO nations were present in the area at the time of the explosion, possibly following a Libyan fighter trying to avoid radar detection by flying close to the airliner.

The crash has been the subject of many books, a museum display, and a film for its mysterious circumstances. Many Italians believe the cause was covered up for security or military reasons.

FMI: www.nato.int