Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/252940
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2014 7 News 'I'm still waiting for justice, 24 years later' The Piper Lance tragedy Last Friday, the heirs of the 1995 Piper Lance accident victim Philip Farrugia were awarded €288,000 in damages after a court ruled that the incident occurred because of the negligence of the late pilot Carmelo Bartolo (pictured). Alongside Carmel Bartolo, Farrugia and four other passengers onboard the Piper Lance PA-32R-300 aircraft crashed to their death between Malta and Tunisia. A subsequent investigation deemed inconclusive. In a case instituted by the wife of Philip Farrugia, Grace and his children Rache Portelli and Angie Farrugia, the court ordered Sun Aviation Ltd, Excelair Ltd and the heirs of pilot Carmelo Bartolo to pay damages with interest. The court said that under normal circumstances, planes do not crash without human error, and deemed the death of six people as attributable to the pilot's decision. Timeline 5 June Calleja, Grech, Schembri and Mamo leave Malta on the Esmeralda and head to Cagliari, Sardinia, where the English national team are playing their group matches in the 1990 World Cup tournament. They first reach Mazzara del Vallo in Sicily to refuel and head to Cagliari where they plan to spend 20 days. 7 June Despite warnings from the Capo Manno port in Sardinia of a heavy storm and Force 8 winds, the Esmeralda sets sail to Cagliari and at around 2am, the 20-metre Esmeralda gets caught in strong north-westerly winds. The boat sinks 20 miles south east of Sardinia. A distress signal is sent to Capo Manno, an hour later eliciting an intensive search and rescue mission by Italian and American naval and air forces. 8 June An inflated life raft and parts of the yacht including a section of the bridge, its mast and radar are spotted at sea and towed to Cagliari. 9 June Calleja and Grech are rescued after being spotted on a dinghy 10 miles east off the Sicilian coast by an Italian helicopter. The two men are taken to Trapani where they are treated for severe dehydration and sunburn. The search for Schembri and Mamo continues. 15 June Calleja and Grech return to Malta and give their version of events. 21 June Searches by Italian and Maltese authorities are called off, however some independent searches continue. 16 July A badly decomposed body is washed onto the island of Linosa and discovered by a fisherman. The body is buried and no autopsy is carried out. A few days later Schembri's son-in- law visits the island where he is shown photographic evidence and a wristwatch found on the body. The body is identified as Schembri's but this was never officially confirmed since, no DNA test or autopsy was carried out. Mamo dived into the sea without a life jacket to reach the dinghy carry- ing Calleja and businessman Manuel Grech, who has since passed away, when it started drifting away from the yacht. While the yacht sank in seconds, Calleja insisted he was con- fident that Mamo had reached the yacht again and that he was hopeful the two men would be found alive on the life raft. The family got to know about the tragedy on an Italian TV broadcast. Calleja was confident her father would survive, telling her mother they would soon throw a party in his honour upon his return home. "This gave my mum and the family a glimmer of hope, however as time went by we all realised, including my mum that he would never return," Cassar said. So far her attempts to discover whether her father, as skipper, had eve been insured by Calleja have proved futile, explaining that be- fore setting sail the yacht owner was heard discussing the yacht's insur- ance policy. But any insurance claim cannot be lodged by the family be- fore the body buried in Linosa is sci- entifically tested, Cassar said. This would indicate that the yacht and its crew might have been in- sured, however Cassar and her family have only been offered false hope and grief while being denied their rightful longing to see the case closed and justice done. 'I'm still waiting for justice, 24 years later' 'I'm still waiting for justice, 24 years later' Timeline 5 June Esmeralda and head to Cagliari, Sardinia, where the English national team are playing their group matches in the 1990 World Cup tournament. They first reach Mazzara del Vallo in Sicily to refuel and head to Cagliari where they plan to spend 20 days. 7 June 7 June of a heavy storm and Force 8 winds, the Esmeralda sets sail to Cagliari and at around 2am, the 20-metre Esmeralda gets caught in strong north-westerly winds. The boat sinks 20 miles south east of Sardinia. A distress signal is sent to Capo Manno, an hour later eliciting an intensive search and rescue mission by Italian and American naval and air forces. 8 June section of the bridge, its mast and radar are spotted at sea and towed to Cagliari. 9 June a dinghy 10 miles east off the Sicilian coast by an Italian helicopter. The two men are taken to Trapani where they are treated for severe dehydration and sunburn. The search for Schembri and Mamo continues. 15 June of events. 21 June off, however some independent searches continue. the yacht. While the yacht sank in seconds, Calleja insisted he was con- fident that Mamo had reached the yacht again and that he was hopeful the two men would be found alive The family got to know about the tragedy on an Italian TV broadcast. Calleja was confident her father would survive, telling her mother they would soon throw a party in his honour upon his return home. "This gave my mum and the family a glimmer of hope, however as time went by we all realised, including my mum that he would never return," So far her attempts to discover whether her father, as skipper, had eve been insured by Calleja have proved futile, explaining that be- fore setting sail the yacht owner was heard discussing the yacht's insur- 7 June of a heavy storm and Force 8 winds, the Esmeralda sets sail to Cagliari and at around 2am, the 20-metre Esmeralda gets caught in strong north-westerly winds. The boat sinks 20 miles south east of Sardinia. A distress signal is sent to Capo Manno, an hour later eliciting an intensive search and rescue mission by Italian and American naval and air forces.