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Only after Lowry's death did the Air Force begin making changes to eliminate the problem. Two weeks later, it emphasized to all F-15 pilots and maintainers the importance of checking flap movements just before takeoff. A week after that order, the Air Force finally alerted its F-15 units around the world to the fact that the rods could be easily reversed: that's because at the time, while the rods were color coded (one green, the other white), both attaching points were green, making the rods' color differences useless. Only now is the Air Force coordinating the colors of rods and links and studying the possibility of making physical changes to the connectors to eliminate the chance of mistakes.
After the crash, the 52nd was ready to prove it could punish its own. It took the extraordinary step of charging the two mechanics with criminally negligent homicide, punishable by four years in prison, a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. Mueller complained in a letter to his parents' Congressman, "Now we, the little guys, have to pay."
Mueller had long taken great pride in being a "little guy." He was among the hundreds of thousands of enlisted people in the U.S. military whose work enables the stars to shine. Born in Germany, he became an American citizen shortly after marrying Rosa, a Texas woman, in 1977. He loved playing and coaching soccer and making fishing lures with his two sons, Daniel, 15, and Marcelo, 11. Before his trial, numerous colleagues, including two F-15 pilots, submitted letters praising Mueller's skill and integrity. Captain Christopher Foster, an F-15 pilot, wrote that he would "feel completely comfortable" flying any F-15 Mueller had fixed.
Lawyers for the 52nd pressed a different story, making sure above all that the jury did not hear about the 1986 and 1991 rod-crossing incidents, or the steps taken after Lowry's death to fix the problem. But a February legal review, required before any court-martial, strongly criticized that approach: the jury, an Air Force lawyer outside the 52nd cautioned, might see Mueller as "a victim of poor policy" and a "mere scapegoat."
But Air Force prosecutors ignored that guidance. The service intercepted and opened mail addressed to the defendants from a safety expert who wanted to help them, and kept it for a month. An airman complained that prosecutors threatened "to cut me off at the knees" for insisting that the enlisted mechanics were being unfairly targeted. After a break in a preliminary hearing, Mueller returned to the hearing room to find Lowry's autopsy photos atop his table. (The color pictures were graphic; the accident report lists PILOT'S CRANIUM as Item No. 321.) Mueller's sister Sabine Dalianis said later, "My brother told me he didn't know if he could ever close his eyes again without seeing those pictures."