Low Flying Jet Toppled Ski Lift

A US military jet flying illegally caused a horrific tragedy in 1998 by slicing through the main support cable of a ski resort lift. The high-speed impact sent twenty people plummeting to their deaths in the Italian Alps.

The EA-6B Prowler was flying well below the allowed altitude when its wing clipped the steel cable. Despite the severity of the incident, the pilots argued that their navigation charts did not correctly indicate the existence of the lift. The event strained diplomatic relations between Italy and the United States for years afterward. It remains a grim reminder of how military training exercises can sometimes spiral into civilian catastrophe.