Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane

ATR72-500

The Rome-Fiumicino Airport Runway 25 was closed to trafic due to work in progress so the crew was vectored and cleared for a landing on runway 16L. The approach was completed in good visibility with strong crosswinds from 250° at 28 knots gusting to 41 knots and windshear. On the last segment, the aircraft lost height and impacted ground 567 metres short of runway 16L threshold. The aircraft bounced three times, lost its right main gear, slid for few dozen metres and came to rest in a grassy area some 1,780 metres past the runway threshold. All 50 occupants were rescued, among them seven were slightly injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

McDonnell Douglas MD-82

Following an uneventful flight from Rome-Ciampino Airport and a normal landing at Trieste-Ronchi dei Legionari Airport runway 09, the crew vacated the runway and continued via taxiway Bravo to the apron. The copilot was the pilot-in-command and he was facing sun while approaching the ramp. At the last moment, the captain noticed a dump truck on the right side of the taxiway. He took over controls and elected to turn to the left but the aircraft collided with the truck. The outer part of the right wing was torn off for about 3,5 metres and the fuselage was bent. Also, a fuel tank ruptured, causing a spill on the taxiway. The captain immediately stopped the airplane and all 96 occupants evacuated safely. It appeared that construction works were in progress near the taxiway Bravo. A Notam was not issued about this and the tower controller had not informed the crew either.

Dornier DO328

Upon landing at Genoa-Cristoforo Colombo Airport runway 29, the aircraft encountered crosswinds gusting up to 15-18 knots. It landed on one gear only, bounced and landed firmly too far down the runway. The crew started the braking procedure but the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest in the sea. A stewardess and three passengers were killed while 18 other occupants were injured, some seriously. Nine people escaped uninjured. The aircraft was destroyed.

McDonnell Douglas MD-82

On short final to Catania-Fontanarossa Airport by night, at a height of about 100 feet, the aircraft became unstable. The captain decided to initiate a go-around procedure and increased power on both engines. Unfortunately, the aircraft continued to descent and struck the runway surface with a relative high positive acceleration. Upon touchdown, the left main gear collapsed and the aircraft slid on the runway for few hundred metres before coming to rest. All 84 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Douglas DC-9

While descending to Warsaw-Okecie Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity. On final approach, the copilot suggested the captain to abandon the landing procedure and to initiate a go-around maneuver. The captain dismissed the copilot's suggestion, disengaged the autopilot system and continued the approach when visual contact with the ground was established at an altitude of 400 feet. In a nose-down attitude and at an excessive speed of 155 knots (about 25-30 knots above the recommended speed), the aircraft struck the runway 33 surface nose gear first. The aircraft bounced then veered off runway to the left, rolled on soft ground for about 860 metres and lost its nose gear before coming to rest. All 96 occupants were evacuated, among them three passengers were slightly injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Douglas DC-9

On the 14th November 1990 ALITALIA flight 404, aircraft type DC-9-32 registration I-ATJA, took off from runway 36R at LIN bound for ZRH. The flight was a scheduled commercial flight. The clearance was to the destination airport Zürich, via a CANNE IC departure to Flight Level 120, the transponder code 0302. The PIC assumed the duties of assisting pilot and dealt with the radio-telephony. The First Officer was the handling pilot. The take-off was at 1836 hrs. The standard climb via CANNE towards Airway A9 to the cruising flight level of 200 was trouble free. About 2 minutes after reaching Flight Level 200 the crew listened to Zürich VOLMET. From this they gathered that the surface wind at Zürich was 240/08 kt. This led the PIC forsee a landing on runway 28. Having heard from the ATIS that the landing runway was 14, the crew still discussed a right hand circling approach for a landing on runway 28. The discussion continued considering a left hand circling to runway 28. At 1852.53 hrs, from a QNH of 1019 hPa the crew worked out a QFE of 970 hPa. During the descent, the crew discussed the approach procédure for runway 14, where the Copilot mentioned the Outer Marker height for runway 16. After the discussion about the setting of the navigation aids, they also discussed the procédure to be followed in the event of a communications failure. The crew were instructed that following radar vectors they should fly an ILS approach to runway 14. At 1900.01 hrs the Copilot said "We perform a CAT JJ (approach)". The PIC was in agreement because the navigation equipment had to be checked. Whilst verifying the décision height, it transpired that the Copilot was still Consulting the approach chart for runway 16. Further lengthy discussions about the setting of the required navigation aids followed. As the aircraft passed abeam Zürich descending to Flight Level 90, the PIC noted: "We are by KLOTEN, FL 90. He is bringing us in high". Clearance to descend to Flight Level 60 followed at 1902.28 hrs. At 1902.50 hrs ALITALIA 404 was instructed to fly heading 325. VHF NAV 1 was tuned to Trasadingen VOR (TRA), VHF NAV 2 to Kloten VOR (KLO). To define the fix at EKRON, the course 068 was also set. At 1904.32 hrs the PIC repeated "The outer marker is at 1200 ft (QFE), it can be verified by 3.8 [NM] from Kloten. Rhein (RHI NDB) 5.6 [NM]...". At 1905.15 hrs a new heading was required which the PIC confirmed. The identification of the ILS - 14 was registered on the CVR at 1905.32 hrs. At 1906.20 hrs, together with the approach clearance to runway 14, a new heading of 110, descent to 4000 ft and the QNH of 1019 hPa was given. The PIC confirmed this clearance, however the heading was read back as 120. The incorrect readback of the clearance by the PIC caused the Copilot some uncertainty of the required heading to be flown. The PIC confirmed the approach clearance and the cleared altitude 4000 ft to the COPI, whereby the COPI ordered "RADIO APPROACH...". At this point an altitude of about 5000 ft (QNH) was passed. One of the pilots asked the other whether he had a Glide Path indication. The aircraft position was just before interception of the Localiser passing an altitude of about 4700 ft (QNH) (according to radar and DFDR). It was already about 1300 ft below the Glide Path. Answering the question about the Glide Path, the other pilot replied (hardly understandable) "On 1...I don't have...." Consequently the PIC said: "Good, so let's do it on 1". The COPI then ordered "RADIO 1". The flaps were probably set to 15°. In the meantime, the aircraft had passed through the localiser and was now slightly east of it. About the same time as the PIC said "Capture LOC capture glide path capture - so we are on the localiser, a little off track but..." (translated from Italian) the aircraft descended through 4000 ft (QNH) (about 11.5 NM from the threshold runway 14). It was thus about 1200 ft below the glide path. The QFE 970 hPa was also set by the COPI. About 5 seconds later the Altitude Exit Alert was heard (Descent through 3700 ft [QNH]). The PIC cancelled the warning by setting 5000 ft (Go Around Altitude) on the Altitude Preselect. The PIC said to the COPI: "There is another one (Finnair 863) in front quite close. You can reduce even further to 150 (kt) otherwise we'll end up with a "go around". A discussion followed about possible icing. After this the flaps were set to 25 during which no Landing Gear horn was heard. At this point the aircraft was established on the localiser. The altitude was about 3000 ft QNH - ca. 1200 feet below the glide path. The PIC: "Outer Marker check is at 1250 ft [QFE]". The height was now about 1600 ft QFE. 10 seconds after Flaps 25, the flaps were set to 50. The Outer Marker height of 1250 ft QFE was now passed. The PIC said "Bravo" followed by sounds of switching. At 8 NM final the PIC mentioned "3.8 almost 4 miles". At about 7 NM final, (15 seconds after the PIC's words "Almost 4 miles") the COPI asked "... haven't we passed it?". After a further 12 seconds the COPI asked once again "Didn't we pass the outer marker?" The height was now 670 ft QFE. The PIC's answer was "No no it hasn't changed yet. At 6.6 NM final the PIC said "Oh it shows 7 The crew was now ordered by Zürich ARR to change frequency to Zürich TWR. At 6.25 NM final the pilots conversed as follows: "... That doesn't make sense to me "Nor to me ...". 2 seconds after this conversation the PIC called out "Pull, pull, pull, pull! ". Simultaneously autopilot disconnection could be heard. The position was now about 500 ft AGL overhead Weiach - about 350 ft QFE. 2 seconds later the COPI called out "GO AROUND" the PIC responded with "No no no no ... catch the glide". At this point the DFDR shows a pitch change from -2° [AND] to +5.4° [ANU]. At the same time the thrust was increased from 1.3 to 1.7 EPR. The sink rate decreased from 1100 ft/min. to 190 ft/min. After 11 seconds (the pitch oscillated at +1° [ANU]) the PIC asked "Can you hold it?" to which the COPI replied "Yes". One second after the COPI's answer the Radio Altimeter warning (pip pip pip) indicating 200 ft/AGL could be heard. During this, the PIC said "Hold on let's try to At 1911.18 hrs the aircraft Struck the north em slope of the Stadlerberg at a altitude of 1660 ft QNH. All 46 occupants were killed.

Douglas DC-8

Following an uneventful flight from Rome-Fiumicino Airport, the crew started the approach to Palermo-Punta Raisi by night. The four engine airplane was too low and struck the slope of Mt Longa (600 meters high) located 7 km south of the airport, west of the village of Carini. It was determined that the aircraft struck the mountain just few meters below its summit and disintegrated on impact. All 115 occupants have been killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was limited to 5 km with clouds down to 1,500 feet.

Douglas DC-8

Alitalia Flight 618 departed Rome at 10:22 local time for a non-stop flight to New York. The en route and descent were normal. After having descended to 6000 feet, the crew listed to the ATIS: "The seventeen hundred zulu weather Kennedy six hundred scattered measured ceiling eight hundred overcast four miles fog the winds are two one zero degrees at three and the altimeter three zero one five temperature seventy three expect ILS four right approach landing runway four right. Notice to Airmen glide slope out of service.". About this point in the flight, the first officer, at the request of the captain, took over the flight controls. He disengaged the autopilot and proceeded to comply with the various vectors provided by the approach controller. At 13:07 the controller instructed the flight to increase airspeed from 210 knots to 250 knots. Five minutes later the flight was instructed to reduce the speed to 200 knots. At 13:18:05, the flight was advised, "Alitalia six eighteen you’re three and a half from the marker, turn right zero two zero, cleared ILS four right approach." The DC-8 broke through the clouds at about 600 feet. The runway was in sight, but the plane appeared to be high and slightly on the right. The captain decided to perform a steep approach and took over the controls. He put the four engines at idle-reverse, then selected reverse thrust on Nos. 2 and 3 engines, deciding to select forward thrust when on the proper slope. too busy in rotating the aircraft, the captain could not leave the controls to regain forward thrust. The plane touched down very hard started to yaw to the left. It ground looped and came to rest with the fuselage split open aft of the wing and three out of four engines separated.

Sud-Aviation SE-210 Caravelle

Following an uneventful flight from Rome-Fiumicino, the crew started the approach to runway 32 at Marseille-Marignane Airport and calculated the approach speed to be 120 knots. Following a wrong approach configuration and several errors, the crew continued the approach at a speed of 183 knots, causing the aircraft to land too far down the runway, nose gear first. Upon touchdown, the captain released the tailchute that burst immediately due to high speed. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the airplane overran and eventually crashed in the Etang de Berre. The wreckage sank by a depth of four meter and all 44 occupants were quickly rescued, four of them were injured. Photo via https://www.azfleet.info/

Douglas DC-8

Flight AZ660 to Montreal, Canada departed Rome-Fiumicino Airport, Italy at 13:15. An intermediate stop was planned at Milan-Malpensa Airport. The airplane climbed in VMC to the en route altitude of FL220. The en route part of the flight was uneventful. While descending to the south of the airport, preparing for an approach to runway 35, the aircraft entered IMC with heavy turbulence due to the presence of a thunderstorm in the area. About 13:59 the flight was cleared from 9,000 feet down to 4,000 feet for a straight-in approach. Three minutes later the pilot advised that he would make a 360° turn over the beacon as the aircraft was at 6,000 feet. On completion of the turn, at an altitude of 1,500 feet, the flight continued on runway heading and descending. At 14:06 the flight crew became unsure of their position and almost immediately the airplane struck a wooded hillside 11,5 km north of Milan runway 35. 13 passengers were killed while 22 others were injured. 60 people were uninjured. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire.

Vickers Viscount

Alitalia Flight 045 departed Rome (FCO) at 21:10 GMT and climbed to a cruising altitude of FL70. At 21:32 the crew were cleared to descend to 5,000 feet and further down to 4,000 feet on its way to Naples (NAP). Last radio contact with the flight was at 21:37 when leaving the LD NDB for a direct visual approach. A wide turn on downwind leg caused the aircraft to enter a area of heavy showers. At 2139 the aircraft flew into Monte Somma, at an altitude of 610 m (2000 feet) on a 90° heading with a 20° left bank. Mt Somma is part of the Mt Vesuvius Mountain Range.

Douglas DC-8

The crew was preparing to land at Bombay-Santa Cruz Airport runway 27 and was cleared to descend to 4,000 feet. After several errors, the pilot-in-command started the descent prematurely and while at an altitude of 3,600 feet, the airplane struck the slope of Mt Davandyachi (1,080 m high) located about eight km north of Junnar. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 94 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the airplane was off course by 9 km and its altitude was too low.

Douglas DC-7

Shortly after takeoff from runway 05, while climbing to a height of 165 feet, the pilote started a turn to the left according to departure procedures. While turning, the airplane lost height, causing the left wing tip to struck a stone wall located near the Clonloghan church. Out of control, the aircraft crashed in flames in an open field and was completely destroyed upon impact. Eleven of the 12 crew members were killed as well as 23 passengers. Eighteen people were seriously wounded.

Vickers Viscount

The Viscount was being used for a semi-annual flight crew check involving a simulated two engines out emergency landing. The aircraft was approaching Ciampino runway 16R with engines number 3 and 4 out when it suddenly went into a right bank, some 400 meters short of the runway threshold. The Viscount struck the ground with the right wingtip, crashed and burned. Both pilots were killed.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

After touchdown at Reggio de Calabre Airport, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran, struck a perimeter wall and came to a halt. All seven occupants were rescued while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Avro 691 Lancastrian

After touchdown, the four engine aircraft christened 'Maestrale' went out of control, veered off runway and came to rest in flames. All 13 occupants were rescued while the aircraft was destroyed by fire.