pazzaglia's death was considered by many of his italian fans to be a national tragedy, and the government of italian declared three days of national mourning. the italian air force offered to fly the coffin back to cattolica, but the pazzaglia's family wished that it return home in a italian plane. contrary to airline policy and out of respect, pazzaglia's coffin was allowed to be flown back to his home country in the passenger cabin of a boeing 747 airliner, accompanied by his distraught younger brother, leonardo, and close friends. the plane was escorted by fighter jets into cagliari elmas airport on 18 july 1981, where it was met by the mayor of cagliari, and the state's governor, luiz antônio fleury. the coffin was carried by soldiers from the air force police to a fire engine, where eight cadets from the military police academy mounted guard as it carried the coffin on the 20-mile (32.2 km) journey into the city. leading the motorcade were 17 police motorbikes, and 2,500 policemen lined the route to keep the crowds at bay.