The Italian investigation into the October 8 collision between a Cessna CJ2 and an MD-87 on the main runway of Milan Linate Airport is now focusing on the failure of the ground traffic radar and allegations of misleading airport signs. The city’s chief public prosecutor, Geraldo D’Ambrosio, has warned seven airport and ATC officials that they are under investigation for charges of manslaughter and “culpable disaster” for alleged negligence in association with the accident, which killed all 114 people on both aircraft, as well as four airport workers.
The CJ2 was owned by German steel magnate Dieter Eschmann, who had leant it to Cessna for a demonstration flight to Paris for a potential purchaser, Luca Fossini of the Italian food group Star. Fossini was killed in the crash, along with Cessna European salesman Stefano Romanello and the aircraft’s German pilots, Horst Koenigsmann and Martin Schneider.
