French documents keep Italy’s Ustica crash inquiry open
Italian prosecutors have dropped plans to shelve the latest investigation into the 1980 crash, but the contents and evidentiary value of the documents remain unknown.
France has told Italian authorities that a batch of defence documents can be used in legal proceedings over the 1980 crash of Itavia Flight 870. Prosecutors abandoned plans on Wednesday to shelve their latest inquiry, keeping open a case whose cause and responsibility remain disputed.
The flight crashed near Ustica on 27 June 1980, killing all 81 people aboard. France’s Defence Ministry said the documents had been brought to Italian authorities’ attention several years ago. It did not confirm whether previously withheld classified material would be provided.
Italy’s highest court ruled in 2013 that the plane was brought down in an aerial battle, by missile or near-collision, without identifying who was responsible. A bomb aboard the aircraft remains an alternative theory, but it has not been upheld in court.
Former Italian president Francesco Cossiga alleged in 2007 that French aircraft shot down the jet while pursuing Muammar Gaddafi. He offered no evidence. France’s decision to make documents available does not establish French involvement, and it remains unclear whether the files contain new material or will yield evidence.
The decision means the inquiry will continue, as victims’ families have pressed authorities to pursue the case. The documents’ contents and potential contribution to resolving the crash remain unknown.
