In the early afternoon, at the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Trapani, the last farewell was celebrated to Captain Fabio Antonio Altruda, the pilot officer in service with the 37th wing of Trapani Birgi who tragically died in the plane crash that took place on Tuesday 13 December near the Sicilian air base while returning from a training mission.
The funeral ceremony, celebrated by the bishop of Trapani, ser Mons. Pietro Maria Fragnelli, was attended by the vice president of the Chamber, the Hon. Giorgio Mulè, the Minister of Defence, the Hon. Guido Crosetto, the president of the Sicily Region, the Hon. Renato Schifani, the Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, civil, military and religious authorities of the city of Trapani and the Sicilian territory, who rallied together with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General of the Air Force Luca Goretti, to the family members for a last farewell to the young driver.
Many colleagues and friends present at the funeral who, together with numerous citizens, packed the cathedral to pay their last respects to the officer.
The celebration began with the reading by the episcopal vicar for the Air Force, mgr. Antonio Coppola, of the message sent by the ordinary military archbishop for Italy, mgr. Santo Marcianò, who in a touching passage recalled that “It is the life of a young man, the one for which I pray and pray today, who had dreams and hopes for the future ahead of him. It is the life of a competent and dedicated soldier who has given so much and could still give so much to our country".
After expressing heartfelt words of closeness and emotion towards the family and all the colleagues and friends of Capt. Altruda, the bishop of Trapani, ser mons. Pietro Maria Fragnelli, during the homily said: “Today we are in silence, incredulous, before the unexpected end of our brother, the pilot Fabio Antonio Altruda: death caught him in the skies and on the earth of our Trapani world. We feel it very close to us in this passage. [...] It is a closeness that translates into mutual belonging. This is why we can say that the young driver belongs to us: he belongs to us and we all belong to him. A belonging that death does not destroy, if anything, it confirms it forever". Then turning ideally to chap. Altruda, Msgr. Fragnelli added “We deliver you to the earth as a grain of wheat which, precisely in death, becomes fruitful. It's a hard, terrible detachment. We never wanted to experience this day, we never wanted to talk to you without getting a response from you. But your whole story is an answer, perhaps even a question: what can and must humanity do to live out its days in peace? You seem to respond to us with the values that have inspired your life and that continue to warm up this community.”
Finally, even the young officer's mother wanted to leave a testimony by remembering her son and the salient moments of his military career, which led him, thanks to his great humility, determination, dedication and passion, to crown his great dream: to become a pilot of Euro Fighter of the Italian Air Force.
To further commemorate the memory of the young pilot, whose death has left a deep sorrow not only in colleagues and friends but also in the entire population, another ceremony will be held tomorrow, Sunday 18 December, in the municipality of Cardito , in the province of Naples, where the officer's parents and younger brother live.
It is too early to formulate hypotheses about the causes of the accident and both the Trapani prosecutor's office and the Air Force have launched the envisaged investigations to collect and analyze the data and information useful for establishing the dynamics of the tragic event.
