Alitalia Flight 112 - Misplaced Pages

1972 passenger plane crash near Palermo, Italy

Alitalia Flight 112
Accident
An Alitalia Douglas DC-8-43 similar to the one of Flight 112
Date	5 May 1972 (1972-05-05)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
Site	Mount Longa, near Palermo, Italy 38°7′23″N 13°8′53″E / 38.12306°N 13.14806°E / 38.12306; 13.14806
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-8-43
Aircraft name	Antonio Pigafetta
Operator	Alitalia
IATA flight No.	AZ112
ICAO flight No.	AZA112
Call sign	ALITALIA 112
Registration	I-DIWB
Flight origin	Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, Rome, Italy
Destination	Falcone–Borsellino Airport, Palermo, Italy
Occupants	115
Passengers	108
Crew	7
Fatalities	115
Survivors	0

Alitalia Flight 112 was a scheduled flight from Leonardo da Vinci Airport, in Rome, Italy, to Palermo International Airport in Palermo, Italy, with 115 on board. On 5 May 1972, it crashed into Mount Longa, about 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Palermo while on approach to the airport, killing all 115 passengers and crew onboard. Investigators believe that the crew had three miles visibility and did not adhere to the established vectors issued by air traffic control. It remains the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy, and the second-deadliest behind the 2001 Linate Airport runway collision in 2001. The accident is the worst in Alitalia's history.

A memorial has been erected at the site of the crash.

The accident

On 5 May 1972, the aircraft I-DIWB of Alitalia (a Douglas DC-8-43) started the flight AZ 112 from Rome to Palermo, taking off 36 minutes late. Captain Roberto Bartoli was in charge of the radio assistance, while First Officer Bruno Dini flew the aircraft. The times and locations have been precisely recovered from the recorder of Rome Control, which had a time recorder, while Palermo Approach did not.

The flight AZ 112 contacted Palermo Approach around 9:10 PM stating to be at 74 nautical miles (137 km) from VOR (which is installed on Mount Gradara, above the municipality of Borgetto, with a frequency of 112.3 MHz, around 10 miles (16 km) south of the airport of Punta Raisi).

Around 10:23–24 PM, the aircraft (coming from Ponente-lato Terrasini) hit a crest 935 meters (1,980 feet) high, about 300 feet (91 m) below the top of the mountain, and slid for a long time on the ground with its wings, its fuselage, and its four engines, until it disintegrated in the successive hits against the rocks of the crest. Part of the debris and bodies of the victims rolled on the mountain side (Carini side) from where the kerosene fire was witnessed. The wreckage was strewn across a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) area, so wide it took rescue teams three hours to reach it. Later on, some witnesses at Carini said that they had seen the aircraft on fire before the crash.

Of the 115 passengers and crew, almost all were Italian; the only known foreigners aboard were a Belgian stewardess, three British people and a French couple. The travellers were, for the most part, returning home to vote in the Italian national elections that weekend. Among the victims of the crash were the noted film director Franco Indovina and Cestino Vycpalek, the son of the then-coach of the Juventus team, Čestmír Vycpalek.

Persons on board by nationality:
Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Italian	102	6	108
British	3	0	3
French	2	0	2
United States	1	0	1
Belgium	0	1	1
Total	108	7	115

The crash occurred on the 26th anniversary of Alitalia, which started operations with a single Fiat G.12 on loan from the Italian air force.

After the accident

The trial represented the official version of events. The trial targeted the pilots for not following the guidelines of the flight controllers. The reason for the crash was labeled as 'pilot error' and a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) (describes an unintentional crash by an airworthy aircraft into the ground).

There is another version of the accident held by some of the victims’ relatives. Mrs. Maria Eleonora Fais, sister of Angela Fais, who died in that plane, was able to find, after many years, the report of the Vice-Chief of Police Giuseppe Peri that says that the plane exploded because of a bombing. Peri accuses an alliance of people having ties with the Mafia and with a subversive group from the Right with the responsibility for this bombing. Three days after the accident the political elections would be held in which a strong rise of the Right was foreseen. The National Association of Italian Pilots (ANPAC) sided with the pilots, refusing the possibility of a mistake due to their long experience and because the accusation of an intoxication to prove their "exclusive" responsibility had been denied. Other problems have been raised on the bad position of the airport of Punta Raisi. (On the position of the airport, see the accusations raised by Giuseppe Impastato)

There is an urban legend that in the crash of Montagna Longa a mythical first wife or partner of the songwriter Francesco De Gregori found her death. But it is only an unfounded conjecture deducted from the words of the song Buonanotte Fiorellino, which seems to make allusion to the tragedy. In reality, the song is inspired by "Winterlude" of Bob Dylan.

Notes

The Lowell Press. "Italy Jet Crash Kills 115." 9 May 1972.
The Birmingham Post. "PALERMO 'Black Box' examined" 9 Jul 1972
"Safer Skies: A Focused Safety Agenda" (PDF). Joint Safety Implementation Team (JSIT). FAA: 4. 29 February 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2006.
Enrico Deregibus. Francesco De Gregori – quello che non-so lo so cantare. Giunti, 2003.

Bibliography

Antonio Bordoni. "Piloti malati – Quando il pilota non-scende dall'aereo". Roma, Travel Factory S.r.l., Dicembre 2008.
Giorgio De Stefani. "Navigazione Aerea Manuale Giuridico Amministrativo". Roma, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1985.
Edoardo Rebulla. "Sogni d'acqua". Sellerio Editore Palermo.
Renato Azzinnari e Leone Zingales. "Anni difficili". Casa Editrice Istituto Gramsci Siciliano.

External links

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)
Jan 7 Iberia Flight 602Jan 21 Turkish Airlines DC-9 crashJan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367Feb 22 Lufthansa Flight 649Mar 3 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763Apr 18 East African Airways Flight 720May 4 Aeroflot Flight B-608May 5 Alitalia Flight 112May 8 Sabena Flight 571May 16 Svetlogorsk An-24 crashMay 18 Aeroflot Flight 1491May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570Jun 12 American Airlines Flight 96Jun 14 Japan Air Lines Flight 471Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700ZJun 18 British European Airways Flight 548Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191Jun 29 Lake Winnebago mid-air collisionJul 2 Pan Am Flight 841Jul 5 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disasterAug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crashAug 31 Aeroflot Flight 558Sep 15 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130Sep 24 Japan Air Lines Flight 472Sep 24 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accidentOct 1 Aeroflot Flight 1036Oct 13 Aeroflot Flight 217Oct 13 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571Oct 27 Air Inter Flight 696YOct 29 Lufthansa Flight 615Oct 30 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 327Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49Nov 15 Ansett Australia Flight 232Nov 28 Japan Air Lines Flight 446Dec 3 Tenerife Spantax Convair CV-990 crashDec 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708Dec 8 United Air Lines Flight 553Dec 8 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631Dec 20 Chicago–O'Hare runway collisionDec 23 Braathens Flight 239Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Dec 31 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash
1971 ◄ ► 1973

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)

Jan 7 Iberia Flight 602Jan 21 Turkish Airlines DC-9 crashJan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367Feb 22 Lufthansa Flight 649Mar 3 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763Apr 18 East African Airways Flight 720May 4 Aeroflot Flight B-608May 5 Alitalia Flight 112May 8 Sabena Flight 571May 16 Svetlogorsk An-24 crashMay 18 Aeroflot Flight 1491May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570Jun 12 American Airlines Flight 96Jun 14 Japan Air Lines Flight 471Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700ZJun 18 British European Airways Flight 548Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191Jun 29 Lake Winnebago mid-air collisionJul 2 Pan Am Flight 841Jul 5 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disasterAug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crashAug 31 Aeroflot Flight 558Sep 15 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130Sep 24 Japan Air Lines Flight 472Sep 24 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accidentOct 1 Aeroflot Flight 1036Oct 13 Aeroflot Flight 217Oct 13 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571Oct 27 Air Inter Flight 696YOct 29 Lufthansa Flight 615Oct 30 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 327Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49Nov 15 Ansett Australia Flight 232Nov 28 Japan Air Lines Flight 446Dec 3 Tenerife Spantax Convair CV-990 crashDec 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708Dec 8 United Air Lines Flight 553Dec 8 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631Dec 20 Chicago–O'Hare runway collisionDec 23 Braathens Flight 239Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Dec 31 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash

1971 ◄ ► 1973

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Italy
Before 1940	Francesco Zambeccari (September 1812) Jorge Chávez (September 1910) Verona Caproni Ca.48 crash (August 1919) Dixmude (December 1923)
1940s	Avro York crash (February 1945) Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster crash (September 1948) Superga air disaster (May 1949)
1950s	BOAC Flight 115 (October 1952) Mediterranean Sea mid-air collision (January 1953) BOAC Flight 781 (January 1954) South African Airways Flight 201 (April 1954) Sabena Flight 503 (February 1955) British European Airways Flight 142 (October 1958) TWA Flight 891 (June 1959)
1970s	RAF Hercules crash (November 1971) Alitalia Flight 112 (May 1972) Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 327 (October 1972) Argo 16 (November 1973) Rome airport attacks and hijacking (December 1973) Alitalia Flight 4128 (December 1978) Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 12 (September 1979)
1980s	Itavia Flight 870 (June 1980) Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460 (October 1987) Uganda Airlines Flight 775 (October 1988)
1990s	Italian Air Force MB-326 crash (December 1990) Banat Air Flight 166 (December 1995) Air Littoral Flight 701A (July 1997) Cavalese cable car crash (February 1998)
2000s	Linate Airport disaster (October 2001) Pirelli Tower crash (April 2002) Tuninter Flight 1153 (August 2005) Air Algérie Flight 2208 (August 2006)
2010s	ASL Airlines Hungary Flight 7332 (August 2016)
2020s	National Aerobatic Team Aermacchi MB-339 crash (September 2023)

38°07′23″N 13°08′53″E / 38.12306°N 13.14806°E / 38.12306; 13.14806

Categories:

The accident

After the accident

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links