The body of a third
missing Air Force pilot was found Friday, leaving one still
unaccounted for among the four aviators involved in a mid-air
collision in the skies above Marche in eastern Italy earlier in
the week.
Search-and-rescue operations that began after the Tuesday
accident between two Tornado jets during an Air Force training
mission continued through the night and into Friday morning.
Investigators say human error was a possible cause of the
collision that scattered pieces of burning wreckage across a
forested area, triggering fires.
Authorities have not released the identities of the three
bodies recovered so far.
One of the missing aviators, Mariangela Valentini, a
31-year-old Air Force veteran from Novara province, has
experience in military operations in Afghanistan and Libya.
She was the captain on one jet with Piero Paolo Franzese as
her co-pilot and navigator.
The other craft was captained by Alessandro Dotto, from a
suburb of Turin, with Guiseppe Palminteri of Naples as his
co-pilot.
Two badly burned male bodies were found soon after the
accident, one discovered in the fuselage of a downed aircraft
recovered about one kilometer from the Marche town of Ascoli
Piceno.
Family and friends of the pilots travelled to Ascoli Piceno
for news as investigators working with military officials and an
Air Force technical committee collected pieces of the wreckage
as they attempt to determine the cause.
Sources say investigators have found the two black boxes
from the jets containing flight data which are expected to
answer many questions.
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