The bodies of sergeants Simone Ruggia and Claudio Marchesi and members of the Red Cross Military Corps, lieutenant Franco Adriano Zecchillo and sergeant Laura Procacci, who died last Thursday in the accident of the Italian helicopter that fell in Bosnia during a training flight, have landed at Ciampino airport. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani welcomed the coffins.
The funeral should take place this week although it is not excluded that the judicial authorities may order autopsies. From the Tuzla hospital, where he is hospitalized for the injuries sustained in the accident, medical lieutenant colonel Flavio Favari, third member of the CRI Medevac team and the only survivor of the medical team, states that "it is a miracle that I am still alive. I only remember that it was a matter of a second, of a very violent impact". Even the injured who are able to travel could return to Italy with the air force.
Overall, three investigations have been launched into the accident, including that of the Bosnian authorities, which also caused the injury of eleven people who were on board the aircraft. Two proceedings are open in Rome, both against unknown persons. The military prosecutor's office proceeds for the military crime of negligent loss, while the ordinary prosecutor's office hypothesizes the crimes of disaster and manslaughter. The investigative activity will focus in particular on the technical investigations on the wreckage of the Chinook and on the analysis of the black box, elements considered fundamental for reconstructing what happened in the moments preceding the crash. The Italian judicial offices will work in close collaboration with the commission of experts sent by the Defense to Bosnia to carry out a series of technical findings and listen to witnesses, starting with the helicopter pilots. Various hypotheses remain open regarding the causes of the accident. Excluding external action or a terrorist act, the investigators' attention is focused on the possibility of a sudden technical failure or human error. In this area, answers will come from the consultancies that will be entrusted to analyze the wreckage and the black box.
The Chinook was on a medical evacuation mission. The aircraft had departed from Viterbo and made a technical stop at Pratica di Mare airport before reaching Bosnia. In total there were fifteen soldiers on board. The helicopter crashed in a field in the Brcko area. Among the items brought to the attention of investigators there is also a film documenting the last seconds of flight. In the images you can see the vehicle trying to regain altitude before the crash.
However, the maneuver would not have been successful and the helicopter, about fifty meters above the ground, would have twisted and fallen to the ground. In Rome, a commemorative space dedicated to the two members of the Italian Red Cross Volunteer Military Corps who died was set up in the chapel of the "Luigi Pierantoni" barracks, while in Barletta on Monday the mayor Cosimo Cannito, with the representatives of the command of the CRI Volunteer Military Corps, will lay a wreath at the foot of the monument-aircraft dedicated to the aviators fallen in peace operations.
