European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday August 30,1988 the stars and stripes Page 3 2. Formation splits into three flight paths five to the right four to the left and one to the Back. 3. Solo Pilot comes Down Back Side of heart heading to Ward spectators intending to pass Over other jets. 10 aircraft form a vertical formation. Moving upward they intend to form a heart like shape. 5. Solo plane strikes one or two of the four plane forma Tion. 6. Flames appear. 7. Plane crashes near spectators Send ing flames and de Bris into crowd. 4. Wheels appear to be lowered. Is graphic Lisa Rivard italian air Force officials puzzled by crash  Bureau italian air Force officials monday continued to Puzzle Over the cause of the crash that claimed the lives of at least 40 spectators and injured hundreds More at the Ramstein air show sunday. The recce Tri Colori is the Pride of our air Force and their pilots Are absolute tops said team spokes Man maj. Giorgio Dimartino. Their exhibitions Are daring and everything is tried and tested again an again. But we Are dealing with human beings and machines. When you Fly the slightest mistake or break Down can spell  the pilots Fly in recce Tri Colori after one year of specialized acrobatic training and normally stay on the team for five years Dimartino said. The pilots who apply for the. Team must have Well Over 1,000 hours of flight time before they Are taken into consideration he said. Most Are Between 30 and 40 years of age and Are at the height of their Overall condition and performance. The ones who get in Are men of Quality and  recce Tri Colori or the Tri color arrows is known As one of the most spectacular and daring acrobatic teams. In 1986 the team toured the United states an Canada and was seen by millions of people i Marti no said. They were the main attraction at All the airshows they participated in. The newspapers called Pur pilots unparalleled acrobats of the sky incredible flying daredevils " the team consists of 14 pilots All volunteers from fighter Pilot squadrons with three technical officers and 55 mechanics in support roles. They Fly  mb-339a two seat training jets which can be used As ground attack aircraft. The plane can Fly unto 558 Miles per hour. The team had t had an Accident since 1981, and we Don t know yet exactly what happened i Marti no said. We dispatched an investigation team and behave to wait for the results to see if it was mechanical or human error. Either Way it la be a Long time before we can put this terrible tragedy behind us. The classic formation for the team involves 10 planes flying in groups of four and five with one Solo Pilot. The exhibitions last an average of 30 minutes and include a series of Maneu vers in which the planes Fly inches from one another and close to the ground. West Germany fast of Many italian air Force jets crash at air show Ramstein Austria every single Man Euver is rehearsed hundreds of times. The aircraft Are checked inside and out and Soare the pilots Dimartino said. The pilots especially must always be in top physical and mental shape since they must rely on their reflexes and sight  he identified those killed in the Ramstein crash As it. Col. Mario Naldini 41, the team Leader who has More than 3,900 flight hours and who is a native of Florence it. Col. Ivo Mutarelli 38, first left Wing wit More than 3,800 flying hours born in Palermo and capt. Giorgio Alessio 31, third left Wing with More than 1,600 flying hours born in Alessandria. However the team s brochure listed Mutarelli As the soloist. At the time of the Accident the two Large groups of the team were creating a heart shape out of brightly coloured smoke trailing from the aircraft. The soloist attempting to pass near the lowest Point of the heart clipped two other planes As he headed toward the crowd. Roger Hoefling a briton who has narrated at least300 air shows and witnessed a 1979 fatal Accident involving the italian team at Raf Mildenhall eng land said he rarely has seen an acrobatic Man Euver like the one executed sunday. He saw the Accident replayed on British television. I Don t know of another team that has a Man Euvertha has a Man headed for the audience in quite that Way Hoefling said. Aerobatics at air shows normally Are done in front of crowds not Over to try to avoid such disasters should the planes collide Hoefling said. Recce Tri Colori had three fatal accidents before the Ramstein crash. The first was july 12, 1978, when two planes collided while in training Over the team s Home Airport of Rivolto Italy killing capt. Graziano Carrer 32.the second Accident occurred May 27, 1979, during the Raf Mildenhall exhibition when capt. Pier Gianni Petri managed to veer away from the crowd before  third Accident occurred during training in Riv Olto on sept. 2, 1981, and ended with the death of capt. Antonio Gallus. Contributing to this report staff writer Dave Odiehl in England