Costa Concordia captain back in court, experts to reveal black-box data

Cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino will be in court today as a pre-trial hearing into the Costa Concordia disaster begins.

According to Italian media, experts are expected to reveal the data from the black box of the ship. A judge will then decide whether there should be a criminal trial.

Schettino, 52, was dubbed 'captain calamity' after it emerged he had steered the luxury Costa Concordia onto rocks during an island sail by salute which led to the deaths of 32 people.

He is facing charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a disaster and abandoning a ship while passengers were still on board and prosecutors say if convicted they want him jailed for 2,697 years.

Last week, Schettino said he would attend the hearing so he could 'show my face' and help his lawyers prove his innocence and reconstruct events leading to the tragedy.

Schettino is currently under house arrest at his home in Meta di Sorrento near Naples but the judge in the case, Valeria Montesarchio, has given him dispensation to attend the hearing which is expected to last three days.