Banat Air

Antonov AN-24

Following an uneventful flight from Timi<U+0219>oara, the aircraft landed at Verona-Villafranca Airport and remained parked for one hour on the ground. Weather conditions were as follow: wind 290° at 2 knots, horizontal visibility 1,300 metre, RVR 2,000 metres, haze and snow falls, overcast 500 feet, OAT 0° C, dew point below zero, QNH 1010. Despite snow falls, the crew decided to takeoff without proceeding to a pre-departure deicing/anti-icing of the aircraft. After liftoff from runway 23, the crew initiated a slight turn to the right heading 239° when 25 seconds later, the aircraft's speed dropped to 179 km/h. The crew selected elevator down so the speed increased to 185 km/h but when elevators were selected up again, the speed dropped to 155 km/h. The aircraft rolled to the right to an angle of 67° then lost height and crashed in a field located 1,500 metres from the airport, bursting into flames. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 49 occupants were killed, among them 31 Italian businessmen, 4 Serbs and 14 Romanians including all crew membres. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was operated by Banat Air and leased from Romavia.