Alitalia Flight 1553

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Alitalia Flight 1553
Dornier 328-110, Alitalia (Minerva Airlines) AN0155602
A Minerva Airlines Dornier 328, similar to the one involved in the accident
Accident
Date25 February 1999 (1999-02-25)
SummaryRunway excursion due to pilot error
SiteGenoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport
44°24′51″N 8°49′29″E / 44.4141°N 8.8246°E / 44.4141; 8.8246Coordinates: 44°24′51″N 8°49′29″E / 44.4141°N 8.8246°E / 44.4141; 8.8246
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDornier 328-110
OperatorMinerva Airlines
IATA flight No.AZ1553
ICAO flight No.AZA1553
Call signALITALIA 1553
RegistrationD-CPRR
Flight originCagliari Elmas Airport, Cagliari, Italy
DestinationGenoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport, Genoa, Italy
Occupants31
Passengers27
Crew4
Fatalities4
Survivors27

Alitalia Flight 1553 (Flight number AZ1553) operated by Minerva Airlines was a regularly scheduled commercial passenger flight from Cagliari which lost control and overran the runway while landing at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport on 25 February 1999. Of the 31 occupants on board, 3 died, including one flight attendant,[1] while another passenger later died in hospital.[2] The Dornier 328 was damaged beyond repair.[3]

Flight History[]

Flight 1553 departed Cagliari for a 1-hour and 25 minute flight to Genoa on 25 February 1999, operated by Minerva Airlines on behalf of Alitalia, with a crew of four on board.[2] The aircraft was under the command of 35 year old Captain Alessandro Del Bono, an experienced pilot with 6,000 flight hours, 2,000 of which were on the Dornier 328.[4][5] Also in the cockpit were First Officer Walter Beneduce, and a test pilot.[5] In the cabin, there was one flight attendant.[1]

Accident[]

The aircraft approached and touched down on runway 29 at Genoa Airport with a 15-18 knot tailwind at 11:30am UTC (12:35pm local time).[3][2] Eyewitnesses reported seeing the aircraft touch down very far down the runway, bouncing several times, then veering right, crashing into the retaining wall and collapsing the front landing gear before plunging into the sea.[6][3] Airport crash response crews were quickly contacted and arrived on site after just 70 seconds.[2]

Immediate aftermath[]

There were three immediate deaths, two passengers and the flight attendant, along with eleven injuries. Most passengers were taken to the hospital with hypothermia. One passenger later died in the hospital bringing the fatality count to four.[2] It is believed that the number of deaths would have been far greater if a 15 year old member of a swim team had not rushed to open the emergency exit door.[4]

Investigation[]

Despite the fact that the accident occurred on the same day that the Italian Parliament voted to create the Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV), the Italian Air Safety Board, ANSV did not investigate this accident as they had not commenced operations yet. Instead, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority launched an inquiry into the accident.[7][2] The inquiry found that:

"Pilot error was the predominant factor. The Captain landed faster than expected, did not effectively counter the crosswind, and failed to select the braking and control systems of the aircraft during the landing phase. Moreover, the Captain did not understand that the poor deceleration of the aircraft was not due to mechanical failures, but due to poor control of the aircraft and its systems"[8]

Captain Del Bono was stripped of his pilots license and sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison for negligent homicide.[9] In 2002 an appeal was made to the results, claiming that the aircraft's thrust reversers were jammed on landing, and that the aircraft had veered right because Captain Del Bono had shut off power to the right engine in an attempt to slow the plane down. The previous conviction was upheld as by then the aircraft had already been dismantled and it would've been virtually impossible to find evidence of a mechanical failure.[10]

Aftermath[]

The Dornier 328 was damaged beyond repair.[3] Minerva Airlines ceased operations in 2003.[11]

Alitalia continued to operate the flight number AZ1553 as a Cagliari-Milan Malpensa flight, operated with an Airbus A320, but this flight number was retired in 2019.[12]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Genova: aereo in mare quattro morti, 27 feriti" [Genoa: plane at sea four dead, 27 injured]. la Repubblica (in Italian). la Repubblica. 1999-02-25.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Italian Plane Overshoots Runway". www.airdisasters.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  3. ^ a b c d Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Dornier 328-110 D-CPRR Genoa-Cristoforo Colombo Airport (GOA)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network.
  4. ^ a b Filippo, Grimaldi; Enrico, Valente; Damiano, Basso; Carmelo, Alfonso; Luigi, Alfonso; Aronne, Anghileri; Carlo, Ferraro (1999-02-26). "L'aereo atterra, va lungo: 4 morti" [The plane lands, goes long: 4 dead]. archiviostorico.gazzetta.it (in Italian).
  5. ^ a b "L' aereo affonda in mare" [The plane sinks into the sea]. la Repubblica (in Italian). 1999-02-26.
  6. ^ "#AccaddeOggi: 25 febbraio 1999, cade in mare un aereo partito da Cagliari" [#AccaddeOggi: 25 February 1999, a plane from Cagliari crashes into the sea]. L'Unione Sarda.it (in Italian). February 25, 2018.
  7. ^ "Who we are". ansv.it. Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo. Archived from the original on June 4, 2004.
  8. ^ "LA TRAGEDIA DI GENOVA "Il pilota sbagliò la manovra Il muretto a fine pista non c'entra"" [THE GENOA TRAGEDY "The pilot misses the maneuver The wall at the end of the track has nothing to do with it"]. La Nuova Sardegna (in Italian). 1999-12-04.
  9. ^ "Genova. Rito abbreviato per la tragedia dell'aereo della Minerva caduto in mare a Genova il 25 febbraio 1999 Due anni e 8 mesi al pilota del Dornier Al Cristoforo Colombo morirono 3 passeggeri (2 sardi) e una hostess" [Genoa. Shortened rite for the tragedy of the Minerva plane that fell into the sea in Genoa on February 25, 1999 Two years and 8 months for the pilot of the Dornier Al Cristoforo Colombo 3 passengers (2 Sardinians) and a stewardess died]. La Nuova Sardegna (in Italian). 2001-11-14.
  10. ^ ""Il Dornier aveva un difetto al sistema frenante" Genova, il perito scagiona il pilota accusato della sciagura al Cristoforo Colombo" ["The Dornier had a defect in the braking system" Genoa, the expert exonerates the pilot accused of the disaster at the Christopher Columbus]. La Nuova Sardegna (in Italian). 2002-12-13.
  11. ^ Ranter, Harro. "Minerva Airlines". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network.
  12. ^ "AZ1553 (AZA1553) Alitalia Flight Tracking and History". FlightAware.
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