Italy’s Ustica enigma: Can French files solve mystery crash blamed on stray missile?

A rocky outpost of Italy in the Tyrrhenian Sea, the island of Ustica owes its name to the smouldering volcanic lava that gave its striking rock formations their dark hue. For many Italians, however, the picturesque island is synonymous with a notorious plane crash that claimed 81 lives, and the intricate cover-up that buried its causes in a thick fog of lies, decoys and mysterious deaths. The fate of Itavia Flight 870, which plunged into waters off Ustica on June 27, 1980, remains a subject of fierce debate after countless expert reports and judicial enquiries spanning several decades. The most widely accepted theory suggests the plane was caught up in an aerial dogfight and mistakenly shot down by a fighter jet, which a former Italian president has claimed was French. News this week that French authorities would hand over defence documents to Italian investigators has been greeted as a potential gamechanger in Italy, where prosecutors and plaintiffs have long accused France and other Western allies of withholding evidence. The 11th-hour twist led prosecutors on Wednesday to abort plans to shelve the latest investigation into the crash, throwing a lifeline to families of the victim...